


The Light In Dark Places : Enemies of the Heir

by IsabelParkerStevens



Series: The Light In Dark Places [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26816617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsabelParkerStevens/pseuds/IsabelParkerStevens
Summary: Nina Rosier is heading back for her second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and surely things can only go better since last year.She has learnt a lot since the House Cup was snatched away from her and her friends six weeks ago, it is a bitterness she has no intention of letting go anytime soon.But Hogwarts is only more dangerous this year, and whilst not in the most obvious way she might think, prejudice will be felt across every student. New friendships will be made, existing ones will be tested and some may even begin to evolve into something more.Oh, and there's a giant unknown monster trying to kill people.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s), Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Light In Dark Places [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1955845
Kudos: 12





	1. Summers End

The small, quaint village of East Horsley was much like any other one might find throughout England. Thatched cottages that clung to their World War II origins lined the high street with mass produced knew builds being hidden in the back streets out of sight of the non-locals. It was a place where everyone knew everyone else. Often referred to as a pocket of wealth nestled in the English countryside – East Horsley was a commuter’s village. Monday through to Friday, without fail, sharp men in pressed black suits would formally kiss their wives’ cheeks and pat their children’s heads before sliding into identical black cars – heading towards the station for their repeated daily commute into London. The community moved like clockwork; regular WI meetings were held to which everyone was expected to attend and so everyone did. It was a town of expectations, and they were always met. However, there was one home, one family that didn’t quite fit the mould. The great stone property, a Georgian architectural masterpiece (so said Mrs Kingston) sat on the outskirts of the village, surrounded by high stone walls on the boundary of its 85-acre estate and iron gates that were always firmly shut and locked. It was on more than one occasion that the bi-monthly village meetings were focused on that family. There was no black car on the large gravel driveway, the man of the house did not leave every morning and return every evening. The mother was not part of the WI, nor did she attend the weekly book club that was a front for Merlot – fuelled gossip sessions. They never saw the children waiting outside the gates for the bus that would escort them to the local school, sometimes they couldn’t be sure there were any children, or anyone for that matter lived there at all. The only thing that could be unanimously agreed upon was that Rosier House was the home of the extremely hostile cat. 

*

I chuckled to myself as Iris returned to my side where I was laid at the edge of the Koi pond, with a muggle newspaper in her mouth. She dropped it over the pages of the book I was reading before stretching out in the sun and purring softly as it warmed her thick fur. I had heard the young paper boy yell in fright as Iris had leapt from the top of the stone wall that kept the muggles out and prying eyes away. Daily bombardment of the paper boy was a routine my cat had gotten into every day and it never failed to amuse me. I would have thought that after the first three weeks of the summer holidays, the paper boy would have learnt to not stray too close to the wall but apparently not – and he would probably be covered in yet more cat scratches for his trouble. 

My Father’s charms worked well enough, keeping us safely concealed from the overly nosy muggles that occupied the village closest to our home. More than once I had prodded a nosy busy body through the gaps in the iron gates and taken great joy in seeing the shocked and confused expressions on their faces as they had rushed off the local tea rooms to tell their friends. There had been times, when I was younger, that I had questioned why magical people didn’t just live all together in one community like the muggles did but it had quickly been explained to me that it was much safer that we all lived apart so not to draw attention to ourselves by muggles who might be less accepting about people with our abilities. It was then that I had ventured into the family library and found as many books as I could on what Alec had told me was the Salem Witch Trials and I had been horrified after learning what our ancestors had been subjected to in the past. It was easy to understand why we lived in secrecy. 

My thoughts returned to my book as I tossed the newspaper aside after flicking through the pages that contained the driest content. How muggles could ever abide by reading such boring news, I would never know. As I absentmindedly stroked Iris’s soft fur, smiling as she continued to purr, a breeze with the tiniest of chills appeared over the water of the pond. Summer was finally beginning to fade, making way for autumn – but the memories of my holiday in Cyprus were still fresh in my mind. Two weeks spent in the dry heat of Larnaca had resulted in my red hair being splashed with honey blonde that framed my face in thin golden strands. My normally milky complexion was a light bronze with freckles and mild sunburn dusting my shoulders, shoulders that were attempting fruitlessly to hold up the straps to the bras I’d had to start wearing over the holidays. All the adjusting in the world and I still couldn’t get them to stay where they were supposed to. 

“Nina!” I slotted a bookmark into the fictional world I had been engrossed in and followed the voice to see my brother, Alec marching across the extensive lawn with two broomsticks in hand. His own latest model and the one he’d had before – which was still leagues above any broom Hogwarts had to offer for flying lessons. Alec, much like myself, had grown taller over the summer months – meaning he still remained a good five inches taller than me. I scowled in the sunlight as he smiled down at me, his own freckles lost beneath the frames of his glasses. 

“Come on, Panda! Are you planning to try out for Quidditch this year or not?” I got to my feet and dusted the stray blades of grass from my knees. 

“Of course. There’s never been a girl on the Slytherin Quidditch team before so many chances are pretty good, aren’t they? Slytherin are, of course, known for being so liberal and accepting.” Alec’s smile faded as he tutted, tossing his old broom into my hands. 

“That attitude, will not get you on to the team. As Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain…” I rolled my eyes as he yet again prophesised his future title upon our return to school. I had to admit that it was highly likely Alec would get the captaincy but that didn’t make his constant mentioning of it even nearly bearable.

“…I feel that I should tell you that it is a positive mental attitude that will get you that coveted spot as the first girl to ever make it onto the Slytherin Quidditch Team and start breaking down those gender barriers. Now, do exactly as I do, and they won’t be able to say no.” I nodded sarcastically, promising to take note of every single little thing as the two of us mounted our brooms, kicked off from the ground and began to chase each other around the sprawling gardens surrounding our home. Alec charmed a Quaffle from thin air and I caught the glittering ball as three hoops extended from the ground, shining in the late afternoon sun. It wasn’t long before I spotted the figures of our parents as they stepped out onto the grass and sit to watch. They were quickly accompanied by Prince our Cocker Spaniel puppy who had also joined the family over the summer. He was a permanent ball of infinite energy and he had a great love for Iris; however, it was a love that was not reciprocated in anyway whatsoever. 

Alec took his position in front of the hoops as we both upped our game in an attempt to show off to our parents, and one another. The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon as we began the last in a point - scoring session. 

By the time we touched back down, an orange glow had engulfed the landscape and the chill that accompanied the breeze was considerably cooler. Crickets began to emerge from the long grasses and Iris lazily swatted at the skaters gliding over the surface of the pond. But the fish knew better than to tempt fate, preferring to keep away from her, choosing to stay in the cooler depths of the water. Prince bounded up to Alec and me as we approached the back steps to the house. He still hadn’t grown into his ears and when he got too excited, he often fell over them and I found it hilarious. I scooped the wriggling bundle of fur into my arms as my Father patted Alec on the back due to him being forced to admit defeat to me as I rushed to my mother’s side of silent smug approval. 

*

“Your book lists arrived this morning.” My mother commented to us both as food piled itself onto our plates at dinner and our glassed filled themselves with fresh lemonade. Despite the cool breeze, we kept the terrace doors open, allowing it to dispel the heat that remained from plaguing us during the day. 

“In that case a trip to Diagon Alley is in order. We can go tomorrow; I’m not needed at work so we can all go together. It will be nice to spend some time together before the two of you leave for school again.” My father commented as he cleaned his glasses before propping them back onto his nose and resuming his steak with gusto. I ignored my own dinner momentarily as I cracked the wax seal of my letter and poured over the contents, my eyebrows rose as the letter continued on considerably further than it had the year before. 

“Cool. I only need two new books.” Alec stated, casually tossing his letter aside and resuming his own meal. 

“How?” I questioned. “How can a fifth year only need two new books when I have…1,2,3,4…8!” My mother gestured for the parchment and rolled her eyes as she read it. 

“The school board appears to be endorsing Gilderoy Lockhart.” A smirk and a snort came from my Father as he took the letter and sighed at the list, ignoring my mother’s tut of disapproval at his momentary lack of manners at the dinner table. 

“Ah well, we’ll buy them regardless. Though I can’t see how this is the best possible re-start to Defence Against the Dark Arts.” Alec held up his hand in protest. 

“Can I remind the current peoples present that I did have Professor Quirrell for three years. I think a man with Voldemort on the back of his head is much worse than a pompous, self-obsessed…” 

“Alec.” Our mother warned, cutting him off before he could lose himself in a tirade of insults. Alec held up his hands in defeat before grasping his cutlery again. 

“I’m just saying. She’ll be fine. If Dumbledore employed him, how bad can he be?” We finished the remainder of our dinner in relative quiet. Only the occasional comment was passed between us about our day and between our parents about their respective work. Once dinner had been finished and we’d cleared the table, it became too cold to sit outside and as the evening gave way to the light summer night, the terrace doors closed themselves. Our parents retired to their studies for yet more work whilst Alec and I said our goodnights and withdrew to our bedrooms. 

My Hogwarts trunk was already open at the foot of my bed with clothes and books casually tossed in. Some were to take back with me and some hadn’t been unpacked from six weeks ago. I’d intended to pack everything neatly but that just hadn’t happened. My desk was scattered with letters from Mia that I’d been receiving almost as soon as I’d arrived back from Kings Cross. The two of us had been in close contact over the summer months, especially when she’d shared the news that she would soon be a big sister. I was so excited that her parents were going to have a baby – I’d often begged my own for a younger sibling but only with the absolute guarantee that it would be a girl but it had fallen on deaf ears and I’d been assured I would remain the baby of the family forever. Mia’s letters had only waveredwhen I’d left for Cyprus and she had gone on a family holiday to Venice. My Slytherin uniform was neatly folded (thanks Mum) and ready to be packed back into my trunk and my school shoes were yet to be removed and cleaned from last year. Scraps of old parchment and quills laid underneath my clothes and empty ink wells rolled around in my satchel. A cat carrier was open on my window ledge with Iris’ favourite food inside and I hoped she would get used to it before we travelled back to Scotland in a week, but I strongly doubted it. I pushed my window open to allow the cool breeze inside, made a mental note that I had to clean my shoes before we left and resumed the chapter of my book that had been interrupted by my brother earlier in the day. I crawled under the covers of my bed and lost myself in a far off fictional world.


	2. Diagon Alley

My family didn’t spend anywhere near as much time in Diagon Alley as I would like. It had always been one of my favourite places to be, always so full of life and colour – particularly just before the start of a new term at Hogwarts. Whilst my interest in Ollivanders had dwindled slightly, there were plenty of young eleven-year olds waiting with a queue going out the door to choose their wands – or to have their wands choose them. It wasn’t just Ollivander’s, however, there were heaving crowds lined up and down both sides of the cobbled high street. Certainly, more so than last year and I wondered what on earth was so exciting for people to be blocking shop doors. 

We had left our shopping late this year, the only new supplies being additional books for Alec and me. I didn’t mind the bustle of the streets, spending the majority of the summer behind the gates of my home because of my parents continuous work schedules, had resulted in me actually wanting to find company in some of my school mates that I was sure to find during the day. 

Alec had quickly separated from us after the Floo Network had dropped us into the fireplace of the apothecary. As I brushed the ash from my cloak with irritation, Mother has also subtly fled the shop, most likely to slip into Twilfitt & Tattings without my father noticing. I didn’t leave his side; however, I’d loved the apothecary ever since he’d first brought me when I was five. It was an old shop with rickety shelves holding every kind of potion ingredient one could need, my Father spent most of his time between here and St Mungo’s. He often worked late into the night trying to perfect various healing charms and potions to help his patients. He often spoke of two of his longest staying residents who had lived at the hospital for nearly as long as I’d been alive and how it seemed as though they were beyond any help at all. I’d asked on more than one occasion what had happened to them, but he would never tell me, simply saying it was something that no person should have to endure. 

Whilst I had no need for the more extravagant ingredients the shop sold, I did want to practice brewing my draught of living death. After Professor Snape had told us about it the year before, I’d searched for the recipe everywhere, eager to try it out. I knew it was ambitious, even Alec wouldn’t be learning it until his sixth year, but if anyone was capable of brewing such a potion, it was me. As my Father conferred with the extremely old Wizard behind the counter, I found myself drawn to the back of the shop. The corners were darker and the bottles even more cluttered than the rest of the space, it was mostly ingredients for dark magic potions with bad intentions. Small jars of Angel’s Trumpet, Deadly Nightshade and Foxglove caught my attention as I ran my hands over the dusty glass with their fading labels. I loved hearing them clink together in a delicate symphony as my min ran riot with the possibilities of what they could be used for. 

Suddenly my Father’s hand on my shoulder caused me to jump and as I backed away from the display, he smiled down at me whilst holding a wrapped brown parcel under his arm. 

“What are you doing back here?” He questioned, looking at the shelf with comical concern. 

“It’s the most interesting ingredients.” I answered simply as he thanked the shop assistant before leaving and heading out into the busy streets. As we weaved in and out of the throngs of people, my attention was diverted as I saw the obvious store front of Broomstix, still displaying the Nimbus 2000 in the window. I slipped from my Father’s grip and straight through the door, past the latest model of broom. I’d done my research over the summer and I knew exactly the broom I wanted, scratch that … I knew the broom I needed. 

“Ah, the Starsweeper XXI? A wise choice, young lady.” The assistant complimented as he approached, dropping his hands into the pocket on the front of his apron. A dirty rag was draped over the front that emitted a strong smell of wood polish and I loved it. It was the smell of success as far as I was concerned. Alec always said a polished broom was a winning broom.   
My Father had quickly followed me into the shop, and I turned on my heel, silently begging with my hands pressed together, bottom lip in a pout and doing my best impression of our dog’s puppy eyes. It had always been a mystery where Alec and I got our Quidditch talents from, particularly when neither of our parents had played at school. 

“Please, Dad.” He looked past me and to the silver handle of the finely crafted broom. Intricate illustrations of planets and star systems were carved into the handle and they almost seemed to shine with their own source of light. 

“When we find your Mother and Alec, we will come back and get it then.” I continued to pout as he gently but firmly ushered me from the sho. As he looked over the heads of the crowd, I found myself staring into the shop window, still frowning until a familiar reflection in the window caused my mouth to stretch into a smile. 

“Ugh. I hate flying.” Mia grimaced, knowing her statement would earn a response. 

“What kind of witch hates flying?” I questioned, a smile playing on my lips. It was a little game we played. I knew Mia would already have a well thought out answer prepped and ready. 

“One who has strict concerns for health and safety, that’s who.” She pouted before linking arms with me, pulling me away from the shop front and into the throngs of people as we absentmindedly followed my father, losing ourselves in our own conversation as we caught up on our summer adventures that hadn’t already been covered in the letters we’d sent to one another. 

“Amelia!” A shrill voice suddenly called over the crowd. Mia stopped to wave to a witch who shared the exact same shade of blonde hair. 

“Mama!” Mia unhooked her arm from mine and grasped her Mother’s wrist to guide her towards us. 

“This is my Mum.” The witch smiled down at me and I held out my hand politely. Mia’s mother looked just like a grown version of my best friend but where Mia’s eyes were blue her mothers were a chocolaty brown. As she let go of my hand she returned it to her swollen stomach, soothing Mia’s unborn baby brother or sister.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Cavett.” I said, putting on my sweetest smile and most polite voice. 

“And yourself, Miss Rosier. Amelia had told us all about you over the summer holidays, I’m glad she found a friend so quickly into the school year.” 

“Yes. We’re permanently stuck with one another now.” Mia grinned, nudging my shoulder playfully. 

“Where’s Papa?” She questioned her mother, as they both scanned the crowd. “Dad’s a muggle. He’s been here before, of course. Bellamy is in his sixth year now. But Dad gets lost every single time. He just wanders off, last year Mum found him in Gambel & Japes, and he had about thirty pygmy puffs and he wanted to bring them all home.”

“You’re Dad’s a muggle?” I questioned, “How come you never mentioned it before?” She turned to me, a flash of confusion on her face. 

“Does it make a difference?” Her reply sounded as though it had been rehearsed many times. I quickly shook my head, questioning why I’d even had to bring it up in the first place. Of course, it didn’t matter, Mia was my best friend.

“Not to me…” She grasped my arm again and her smile had returned as quickly as it had gone. 

“Good. I had hoped you wouldn’t think less of me with my ‘less than pure blood’.” 

“Of course not.” I smiled, feeling silly for questioning it at all. “So, did he?” 

“Hmm?” She questioned. 

“Your Dad, did he take all the pygmy puffs home?”

“Yes! He has names for all of them as well. They sit on the mantlepiece at Christmas time and sing on Boxing Day. It’s like a tiny church choir in the house.” I laughed aloud as a dazed looking man finally joined her mother’s side and my own parents managed to find me. Mia’s mum tutted as she brushed the shoulders of her husband’s suit whilst he tried to explain how he’d got lost and where he’d been and how he had looked everywhere trying to find her. 

“Why must you insist on wandering off? Every. Single. Time.” My mother questioned, one eyebrow arched as she clutched a bundle of fabrics under arm, adjusting the silver clasp of my cloak with her spare hand. Mia’s mum looked away from her husband and smiled when she appeared to recognise my mum. 

“Aurelia? Aurelia Selwyn?” My mother turned back and a smile spread across her neatly lined lips as she recognised Mia’s mum. 

“Philippa! Merlin, it’s been years. I haven’t seen you since school. How have you been?”

“Oh, you know – marriage, children, work. The usual.” 

“Yes.” My mother sighed. “It’s all very time consuming isn’t it? But they’re worth it…the children.” She placed a hand on my shoulder, smiling fondly. Whilst we were not a family for common public displays of affection, we told each other we loved one another every evening without fail. 

“Of course, it is.” Philippa agreed as she too smiled fondly at her daughter. “Tell me, how has your work been? I’ve heard you give those big wigs in the Law Enforcement Office a tough time.” My mother smiled proudly. 

“Yes, I do try. I’ve recently been promoted to run the Improper Use of Magic Office. We’ve been especially busy as of late, a new initiative…the Muggle Protection Act with Arthur Weasley at the head. Needless to say, it hasn’t gone down too well with some of the older families.” Mia and I exchanged looks as our Mother’s descended into conversation, most of which went over both our heads. 

“What’s the Muggle Protection Act?” Mia questioned curiously. 

“I’m not really sure. But I’ve heard Mum talking about it a lot. Aurors had to come to our house the other week. Dad didn’t want them to, but Mum said it would make us look suspicious if they didn’t. They seemed to be looking for stuff and they did take some things away from my father’s study, but I don’t know what they were. Apparently, they’ve been conducting investigations into all of the oldest wizarding families.” 

“Hold on, go back. Aurors came to your house? Why?” I shrugged my shoulders as we continued to follow our conversing parents, we had approached a topic of conversation I was not entirely comfortable discussing. 

“Old family, one of the oldest in fact. Old money. Bad reputation. My grandfather was a Death Eater during the First War.” Mia simply nodded and I had to admit I was shocked. 

“You’re taking this surprisingly well given that I told you I’m related to someone who killed muggles…and your Dad is one.” Mia shrugged herself. 

“Well it explains why you were bothered by it.” 

“I was not bothered!” I protested, hoping that she didn’t think I saw her differently because of our families varying histories. 

“I’m kidding!” She laughed. “I knew you were one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight ages ago. I found some old book on Mum’s bookcase and it was on the ‘origins of great wizardry’ and Evan Rosier was mentioned. I figured there isn’t that many extremely wealthy families with the same name.” 

“Well, no…there aren’t.” Our conversation was thankfully cut short by the reminder of my Father’s presence as he gestured to Flourish & Blotts, the only shop we actually needed to go into and yet we were already laden down with an assortment of unnecessary purchases. Every shopping trip always ended the same. 

“Come on dear. Let’s get your books. Your mother could be a while with her friend.” I nodded in agreement and turned to Mia and her Father. 

“Have you got your books yet?” Mia shook her head. 

“No. Come on Papa. We’ll go with them.” As we approached the shop door, we could already see that Flourish & Blotts was packed with mostly women and their giddy daughters. A sickening photograph of the golden haired Gilderoy Lockhart outside the door provided the reason as to why. Our Father’s slipped past a group of our schoolmates who were blocking the doorway; however, it was undeniable that Mia and I were more interested in the apparent altercation than the obviously egotistical wizard signing books at the back of the shop.

“Couldn’t they at least wait until we got to school?” Mia questioned as we realised who it was blocking the door. Draco Malfoy was stood in front of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and a very ashy group of Weasley’s. The first thing that caught my eyes was how Draco had gotten taller over the summer, I now found myself having to tilt my gaze upward slightly to meet his eyes. As he ridiculed the Gryffindor’s opposite him, I also noticed how his voice has deepened over the past three months. Other than that, he appeared to have not changed in the slightest. It didn’t take long for the group to notice us and in an attempt to break the ice and potentially dispel the pre-existing tension, Hermione tried to strike up conversation with an extremely false smile. 

“What do you think about Gilderoy Lockhart? I’ve read all of his books over the summer, I can’t think of a better, proper introduction to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Did you hear his announcement? He’s actually going to be our professor!” Mia and I exchanged less than subtle looks, causing her to blush with embarrassment. 

“Potter got a photograph with him for the front page of the Daily Prophet. Can’t go anywhere when you’re famous I suppose.” Draco spat after glancing at and recognising Mia and I and seeming to take on more confidence now that two additional Slytherin’s were next to him. 

“Should be a good photo. I’m sure it will really bring out the soot on your…everywhere.” Mia noted instantly, eliciting a light snort of laughter from me. Mia’s comment was all the encouragement Draco needed to continue his verbal attack, positioning himself in the middle of Mia and I as if he was automatically creating a division between the group. I was sure that Mia and I would have preferably stood on the side lines and watched them chip away at each other than being involuntarily dragged onto the frontline. 

“Bet you loved it, didn’t you Potter?” Draco continued before he was quickly silenced when a silver snake head fell between the two of us and landed swiftly on Draco’s shoulder. He briefly glanced at me with embarrassment clear on his face before stepping aside, allowing a much taller man to take his place. Mia had quickly skirted around the back of him and joined my side. Lucius Malfoy stepped into the shop with an air of entitlement and snobbery and assessed the situation for himself, examining each of us closely. 

“Playing nicely, are we children?” He questioned as he looked over the seven Gryffindor’s, sneering at them before his eyes fell onto Harry. 

“Ah, the famous Harry Potter.” He voiced, quietly, his attention now completely preoccupied as the handle of his cane pushed the damp clumps of Harry’s hair to one side, exposing the all-too-famous scar. 

“Forgive me.” I couldn’t help but notice how his speech was full of suspenseful pauses and I wondered if this was intentional or not. If Draco had inherited his dramatics from his father, then odds where, they were very much intentional.

“Your scar is legend. As of course if the wizard who gave it to you.” 

“Supporters?” Mia questioned, whispering in my ear. She knew of the Malfoy’s of course, and not just because we knew Draco, everyone did. But not everyone was completely aware of the roles they had played in previous conflicts and it certainly hadn’t been published in any books like my family history was. 

“Yeah. Said he was bewitched and switched sides at the end.” I confirmed proudly, recalling my history lessons from years ago and Mia nodded. 

“Smart.” Lucius had moved onto Hermione by the time we had tuned back into the conversation. 

“Muggles, aren’t they?” He asked and I followed Hermione’s concerned gaze as she looked down to the end of the shop where two people who I assumed were her parents were speaking to another red-headed sooty wizard that I recognised as Arthur Weasley. Lucius then turned to Mia and I, familiarisation on his face as he nodded curtly to Mia and a much less snobby attitude when he spotted the Slytherin crest on my cloak. 

“Miss Cavett, lovely to see you again.” He held out his hand and Mia appropriately shook it, there was no falter in her facade of politeness at all. 

“And you must be Miss Rosier. Yes, Draco has told me all about you. Your parents are here I assume?” He looked over my head, apparently seeking my Mother out from the crowd. 

“I would love to have a catch up with your Mother…” 

“Nina.” My Father suddenly reappeared, placing a hand on my shoulder in a much firmer grip than I was used to. 

“Got your books, I should think your mother would want to get some tea. Shall we get going?” He was clearly eager to remove up from the doorway of the shop, Mia included as waiting customers had begun to notice the delay. I nodded but Lucius Malfoy was far from finished. 

“If it isn’t Basil Rosier. The famous black sheep of the family.” He smirked slightly, “Tell me, was it really worth it? Abandoning your heritage for such trivial things?” 

My father sighed as if he had been questioned this, multiple times before and he was tired of giving the same answer on every occasion. 

“Lucius, you know as well as I, exactly what happened between me and my family. There really is no need to stir the pot now after all these years. Those men in Azkaban share nothing with me.” 

“Other than some of the purest blood in the Wizard World.” Lucius reasoned and though I would never admit to anyone other than a select few people, I was proud of my blood status. It earned me respect without people even needing to know me. But I had also learnt it earned me negative judgement too from people like Hermione Granger. My father placed a hand on my shoulder, subtly letting Mia slip her father out of the shop without Lucius noticing him. 

“If you say so.” My father retorted before we finally stepped away and out into the sun. I turned back briefly and offered a small wave to Draco and he nodded in response, still looking embarrassed and his father’s interjection. 

Mia and I re-joined our mother’s in Rosa Lee’s Teabags where once again our parents were engrossed in more conversation on the differences between the magic and muggle world. My father appeared to be particularly interested in the comparisons of muggle medicine and magic medicine. 

“Oh, I meant to tell you.” Mis suddenly spoke up. “I’ve been writing to Zach Leiring over the summer.” She sipped on her Earl Grey from an intricate blue and white china cup. 

“Who?” I questioned, not recognising the name in the slightest as I placed my own cup of Peppermint tea back on its delicately designed saucer. 

“Remember the snow globe I got for Christmas last year?” I nodded as I recalled the memory. “It was from him. He’s in Ravenclaw and the same year as us. He seems nice.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” I muttered sarcastically, eliciting a playful nudge from my friend. “By the way, I also have news. I was thinking of trying out for Quidditch this year.” Mia nodded as though I had mentioned this, many times before and I probably had, I’d been toying with the idea all summer always talking myself in and out of the idea before finally but not entirely settling on the fact that I was going to try out. But to do that I needed a broom, and nothing less than the Starsweeper would do. 

“I was telling my brother that you should! Bellamy is a chaser on the team. He’d help you get on, not that you need it of course – and obviously I’ll cheer you on at every game…” Our conversation was suddenly cut short by my Father declaring that it was getting late and we should head home and as I looked out of the lead lined windows, I could see the familiar orange glow of a late summer sunset. It was true that the light was dwindling outside the wonky windows of the tea shops and the crowds of people were beginning to dissipate. We’d managed to pass a whole day in Diagon Alley, and it had felt like no time at all. 

“But my broom!” I shouted as I suddenly remembered that we hadn’t had the chance to go and get it at all. 

“The shop has closed now, darling. It will have to wait until next year.” My father apologised, waving goodbye to Mia’s family. I wasn’t paying much attention to them leaving, instead preparing to descend into a full-on Nina-style tantrum for which I was famously known. 

“No!” I protested, stomping my foot onto the cobbles outside the tea shop but a stern look from my Mother (that spelt don’t you date embarrass me) quelled the urge, slightly. Instead I decided that I would silently ignore my family until I got my broom – which now looked like would be a whole year.   
“If you hadn’t taken so much time in Flourish & Blotts with your little commotion between Mr Malfoy and Mr Weasley.” My mother grimaced to my father as we made our way back to the apothecary. 

“Yes well, Malfoy becomes even more distasteful when he has reason to be nervous.” My Father replied. 

“What do you mean?” I questioned, my yearlong planned silent treatment gone as my curiosity piqued, I ran forward and fell into step with my parents – eager for them to tell me everything they knew. 

“The Ministry hasn’t visited Malfoy Manor yet, darling. I don’t doubt that when they do, they’ll be carrying out contraband by the barrow load.” He ushered me into the fireplace of the apothecary and a sudden green flash of warm flames threw me from Diagon Alley and into the familiar fireplace of my Father’s study. Iris only looked up from her sun-soaked spot on the window ledge when I accidentally knocked over a small stack of logs. She meowed in contempt before returning back to her slumber. There was no way she was going to willingly get in her cat carrier for the journey back to Hogwarts. 

*

It was always a slightly sombre meal, the last dinner before Alec and I returned to school. Of course, we would both get the inevitable ‘I expect you to behave’ talk, even though it was aimed almost entirely at me. Not that I could blame either of my parents, especially after last year. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that Mia and I had many more mischievous plans for this year – not only that but we felt that we were better at not getting caught a well. It also didn’t help that Mia’s very first letter of the summer had required me to officially stage a pledge whereby I was no longer allowed to get into trouble or break school rules without her. 

“I do not want a letter from Severus again, Nina.” My mother commented as she flicked her wand, sending the now – clean plates back into their cupboards. 

“Mum.” I groaned, watching as they stacked themselves neatly one on top of the other. “Please do not call Professor Snape that, it’s not right.”

“He has a first name, Nina. Honestly, do you think he was born as Professor Snape…” 

“No but I am one hundred percent sure he would give me a year’s detention if I ever dared call him by his first name.” I smirked as I caught Alec miming a knife going across his throat, obviously intending to strike fear into me about the hook-nosed professor, but instead eliciting a snort of laughter which I then had to apologise profusely for. 

*

I dunked my head under the water of the bath I’d decided to indulge myself in for my last night at home. Alec and I had raced to the main bathroom, it being the one that had the floor to ceiling window, in front of which the large copper bathtub sat. I’d happily won and locked the door in his face as I charmed the taps to start running. The bath bomb I’d dropped into the hot water was a heavenly combination of Bergamot and Cypress. As I sat back in the steaming water and identified the song playing on the record player on the other side of the room, I found my mind wandering to the impending school year. I had been getting myself motivated and then talking myself out of trying for the Quidditch team for the entire six weeks I’d had the idea. Even having Mia’s older brother give me a pep talk about it hadn’t set my mind. He had already been well established as a brilliant flyer before the Slytherin team offered him a spot as one of their chasers, and that had never happened before. No one ever got offered a place on any of the house teams. If I even managed to get down to the pitch, I was going to be the first girl ever to play for Slytherin, a position I was equally ecstatic and terrified to potentially hold. I’d always been taught it was a man’s world (or boys in my case) and whilst that had only made me more determined to mark my place in it, the thought wasn’t any less daunting. Quickly feeling tired of my own thoughts dragging my mood down, I hastily jumped out of the bath and dried myself off, changing my towel for my favourite flannel pyjamas. As I headed into my room, my father came up the stairs, intercepting me. 

“Your mother and I would like to see you downstairs once you’re ready.” 

“Ok?” I replied, leaning backward on my door to open it. I could already hear the lull of my soft duvet and plush pillows calling me. Mia had been sending me muggle books all summer and I currently had three that I was part way through reading. Stephen King was proving to be a firm favourite of mine, his imagination was so wickedly sinister, and it was strange that most of the things he imagined as horrors were very real in my world. 

“Are you all packed for tomorrow?” He questioned, peering over my shoulder and into my room, shaking his head at the apocalyptic condition it was currently in. It was never in the tidiest condition, but I always made sure it was spotless before we left. Whether or not I used magic in that venture was at my own discretion. 

“Yes, Dad.” I rolled my eyes. 

“Do not roll your eyes at me. Uniform packed? Shoes? Books? Ink and quills? Parchment? Is Iris ever going to get in that carrier?” He and I both looked over to my sulky Maine Coon, eyeing the food in her crate hungrily but being too smart to get in. 

“I doubt it, unless I want my hands shredded to pieces. Which I do not.” 

“Why don’t you just harm her into it?” My father offered. I gasped in offence as I rushed to Iris and picked her up, squashing her against my chest and feeling her growl in discontent. 

“Father! Magic outside of school? And on my own cat no less? I thought you would have had more appreciation for the rules!” He rolled his eyes, a smirk playing on his mouth as he tried not to laugh at me. 

“You and your mother are the most unnecessarily dramatic people I know.” I laughed as he closed the door, leaving me to finish packing (stuffing) my things into my trunk. Eager to see what my parents wanted with me, I wasted no time in jogging back down the stairs and into the drawing room where my Father was reading the missed morning edition of the Daily Prophet. 

“You summoned me, Father?” I flourished as I entered the room, swinging round the doorframe with one arm elongated. The only response I received was a sigh as he turned the page of his newspaper. But I saw the smirk that played on his lips as my mother entered the room from the kitchen – swirling her evening Pinot Grigio around the glass. 

“What are you doing?” She questioned as I dropped my pose and flopped onto the sofa next to her. 

“Just being my normal, ‘unnecessarily dramatic’ self.” I smirked, once again causing my Father to sigh. 

“What did you want to see me for?” I questioned seriously, I was partly cautious that they were going to have stern words about my near tantrum in Diagon Alley earlier and I knew I would have to apologise if they did bring it up. However, my father silently got up, left the room and quickly returned with a broomstick in hand. I shot to my feet with excitement as I instantly recognised the silver handle form Diagon Alley. 

“I want one promise.” My father said, holding it above my reach as I raced over to him, excitement clear on my face. 

“Anything.” I answered quickly, my eyes not leaving my new gift. 

“Impeccable behaviour…all year. Not a single detention or bad comment from any of your professors, understand?” He instructed. I hesitated for a few seconds, considering the proposal before holding out my hand. Upon deciding that I would simply just have to be smarter about my bad behaviour, I agreed. 

“Deal.” We shook hands and the broom was handed over to me, I squealed in excitement before hugging both of my parents and running back up the stairs, flinging Alec’s door open to show him. 

“Brilliant.” He smiled as he examined the gift. I looked into his own trunk and rolled my eyes at how neatly he had packed. His parchment rolls were perfectly tied up with string and each ink well had its own little compartment in an organiser. 

“You’re definitely going to get on the Quidditch team with that beauty.” He grinned. I nodded eagerly but my smile faded a little. Alec noticed instantly and roughed up my hair in an attempt to ‘rub the bad thoughts away’ it was a game we had as kids and it worked when we were younger, but less so now. He handed my broom back to me and I rushed off to my own room to see if it would fit in my trunk and much to my own glee, it wouldn’t. Unfortunately, everyone would have to see it tomorrow on the platform. Slytherin had won the Quidditch Cup every year since 1987 and that wasn’t going to change any time soon.


	3. Back through the Barrier

Cinnamon French toast waited for me the next morning, alongside jugs of iced water and orange juice as well as pots of tea and coffee. It looked like a banquet breakfast for a hotel and yet there was only the normal four of us. I’d been awake early enough to watch the sun rise from my bedroom window, leaning into its warm orange glow before Alec has thrown my door open, his own excitement at returning to school nearly outstripped by my own. He had already been for a run around the estate and as I’d dressed myself, I’d heard him singing from his bathroom that was on the other side of my own. Alec had always loved music; he’d been playing the guitar for as long as I could remember and even over the past summer, I’d endured repeated verses of a song he was writing for Ember. Listening to him repeatedly sing the same lyrics for the past six weeks had been agonising and I hoped he finally found the nerve to sing it to her so I wouldn’t have to be his only audience for much longer. 

As Alec and I took turns filling in the daily crossword of the Daily Prophet, (Lockhart seemed to be related to a lot of the answers) our father sipped on his religious cup of coffee with half of an untouched grapefruit half in front of him, our mothers daily futile attempt at getting him to eat in the morning that had gone on for as long as I could remember. Whilst the rest of us ate our breakfast, Mother hurried around us, her heels clicking on the tiled floor as she double and triple checked hat Alec and I had everything we needed for the trip to London. 

“Are you absolutely certain you have all your books, Nina?” I nodded my head with a mouthful of my third slice of toast, but she seemed unsatisfied with my answer. 

“Uniform packed? Is that what you’re wearing for the train? Have you got a coat? It’s is windy.” I nodded again whilst fighting the urge to roll my eyes at her concern that was verging on paranoia. 

“I’m going to wear my cloak. We don’t have to wear our uniforms into school now. We get changed whilst the First Years get introduced now.” 

“Ok. Well go and make sure you have everything then. We do not want to be late.” I quickly swallowed a glass of orange juice and rushed upstairs to hurriedly change into a black knitted jumper and checked skirt. I stuffed my school shoes into my satchel, slipped my black ballet pumps onto my feet and dragged a brush through my lengthening hair; doing one last scan of my room to make sure I had everything I needed. 

I re-joined my family in the entrance hall, Iris had successfully been stuffed into her carrier though it was more than clear how unhappy she was with her temporary accommodation. Meows came from the wicker walls every few seconds and anyone who walked too close to the little door on the front risked getting swiped by her paw, claws included. 

“Ready to go, Panda?” My Father asked, placing his hand on top of my head. I glanced around the drawing room of my home, mentally saying goodbye to all my favourite places that I would miss over the next ten months; our library, the large sprawling gardens, our koi pond and the lake that sat behind a small passage of oak trees out the back of our home. I’d never run out of places to occupy myself over the summer and I would miss it a great deal until I returned home again in the summer. 

I took a handful of travel clean Floo Powder from the silver pot on our mantel piece and stepped into the fireplace with my satchel over my shoulder and Iris’s carrier in my grip. 

“Stay put once you get out of the grate.” My mother instructed and I smiled sweetly before throwing the ash at my feet and calling the location of where I wanted to go. 

*

We were in The Leaky Cauldron when we stepped out of the warm flames. It was a dark pub to the magical community – a condemned building on the outskirts of tourist London to the muggles. The old mahogany bar was always dusty no matter how much Tom the barman wiped it clean. He would wave to each group as they arrived in the fireplace, always being a welcoming face. The windows were small – meaning that minimal light filtered through and most of the space was shrouded in shadow often meaning it was used for all manner of dodgy dealings, according to Alec. There were a few wizards sat drinking their morning coffee, one in particular who was deeply engrossed in ‘A Brief History of Time’ whilst adding sugar cubes to his bitter drink with gentle flicks of his wand. Other than that, the building was mostly occupied by families escorting their children through to get to Kings Cross. Some would stay overnight in the rooms above the pub for those who had travelled from further afield, there were even families who lived in Scotland and had to travel all the way down to London only to head straight back up for school – it seemed silly but there was simply no other way to get to Hogwarts. 

*

There was nothing quite like Kings Cross on the first of September. It was the unification of the whole community as trolled were pushed across the already crowded platform displaying a weird and wonderful assortment of school supplies. Owls hooted to one another from their cages and cats that were trusted enough to free roam wove in and out of their owners’ feet on Platform 9 ¾. I felt the comforting hand of my father on my shoulder as he guided me across the platform, luggage hands had taken my trunk along with an extremely touchy Iris and loaded her into the front of the train, he had promised she would be okay but I was more concerned for his own fingers should he try and calm her down. I had also reluctantly handed over my broom with it wrapped safely in its brown packaging paper. The luggage boy had promised to look after it, I hadn’t believed him one bit, but I’d been unable to argue. I’d also wanted to show it off to my housemates on the train.

It wasn’t too long before we came across some familiar faces lining the platform, preparing to board the train. I spotted the red-headed expanse of the Weasley’s and one bushy haired Hermione Granger. I didn’t see Harry Potter but I wasn’t overly concerned about that, however I did find myself wondering if this year would be a repeat of the last and he would manage to take over the school once again with his popularity and habit for trouble without having to suffer the consequences. It was then I spotted a young boy with blonde hair, a huge camera and very confused looking parents and in the few steps that we passed one another, I heard Harry Potter’s name mentioned at least twice. It was then that I also spotted the three white-blonde heads of the Malfoy’s. Lucius stood with an expression that was reminiscent of disgust and I found myself wondering if that was just the way he looked all the time – it wouldn’t be surprising if that was the case. Draco was stood next to him having his cloak adjusted by who I realised must have been his mother. She was a very pretty woman – her own blonde hair only distinguishable from her husband and son by a dark brunette streak that was neatly clipped up into a perfect bun. She dressed similarly to my own mother; professionally elegant. 

As the horn from the train blew, children began hugging their parents and saying goodbye to their families as they clambered aboard the steam train. I turned to my own parents and felt that familiar sadness that we were going to be apart for another year. I hugged them both and my mother pressed a lipstick kiss to my cheek before wiping it away with her handkerchief and my father tucked a small vial of clovers into my grip. 

“For luck,” He said, “not that you need it.” I smiled proudly as I heard the familiar footsteps of Mia arrive behind me. We both linked arms as habit and I waved goodbye to my parents as Mia waved to hers. We were two of the last students to get onto the train and so closed the door behind us – we took the opportunity to push the little window open and lean out together (thank Merlin for skinny shoulders) to wave to our families until the train had left the station and the city of London became the only view that eventually thinned out into green countryside. Once we had closed the window, Mia clapped her hands together with a smile on her face. 

“Come on then, let’s go and find everyone.” We linked arms as we began to stumble through the narrow corridors to the back of the train where we knew we would find our friends. Slytherin students always sat at the back of the train and I hadn’t really ever understood why but it made sense – if anyone else was to come into our carriage they wouldn’t be able to use the excuse that they were just passing through, unless of course they were just passing through out off the back of the train. All Slytherin’s may not be evil but I had learnt that a great number of us were paranoid. 

Eventually we came across our friend group, mainly identifiable by the fact that the sheer number of us had resulted in occupying too groups of seats across the carriage from one another. Crabbe and Goyle had chosen (been instructed) to provide a barrier across the carriage to prevent anyone walking past us without good reason. It was Theo I spotted first, dark eyes staring out of the window, pointed chin resting in his hands. I quickly dropped into the seat next to him – jabbing a sharp elbow into his ribs. 

“Ow.” He muttered, swatting me away before pushing his brown hair out of his eyes. Theodore Nott was a quiet boy, almost as quiet as Blaise but we had been familiar with one another before we’d attended and so we’d naturally gravitated toward the other once we’d been placed in the same house. Other than Mia, he was one of my closest friends. 

“Oh, it speaks.” I joked as Mia dropped into the seat opposite us, placing herself next to Pansy who was fussing over the fringe that she’d had cut in over the summer. The two of them instantly began conversing about Pansy’s current book that was resting on the table, a book on unicorns of all things. For someone who had such a hard exterior we had all been surprised when she had expressed a soft spot for the rare creatures, during one evening game of truth or dare last year. 

“So…” I prompted on, keen to keep Theo’s attention but no one else. I lowered my voice as he turned to me, “I am…” 

“Just so that everyone is aware…!” An all too familiar obnoxious voice drowned me out as everyone’s attention was instantly diverted to Draco who had gotten to his feet to ensure he had the attention of all nine of us. I could practically feel Mia roll her eyes from across the seats and I had to supress the urge to laugh. 

“…Gryffindor won their last every Quidditch Cup…whenever it was that they last managed to succeed…” 

“1986.” I said quickly and Draco looked at me, apparently irritated by my statement. 

“And that was the last time. They will never get the opportunity again.” We all nodded in unanimous agreement – silence having fallen over our large group. 

“And how exactly do you plan on ensuring that?” Mia questioned with an arched eyebrow and it was then that I remembered her fondness for the two Weasley twins. They’d become a trio of mischief in our first year and Fred and George helped us get into trouble countless times over the past twelve months. No doubt that would continue on through our second year. Fred and George were also beaters on the Gryffindor team – distinctly average in my opinion but good enough to warrant a position, but there was little about them that stood out as athletic prowess. Though I could say the same about the two beaters on our team, they weren’t particularly agile – Peregrine Derrick and Lucian Bole were almost as round as they were tall, both as solid as a brick wall and possessing similar amounts of sportsmanship – though that could be seen as insulting to the wall. 

“Because, Amelia.” Draco sneered, pulling my mind back into the conversation at hand. “I am going to be joining the Slytherin Quidditch Team this year as their new seeker and my Father is supplying the whole team with top of the range, Nimbus 2001’s.” My heart plummeted in my chest and I quickly sat on my hands to stop myself picking at my cuticles, a sure sign of my anxiety. No one noticed because no one would have expected me to act any differently to anyone else. Mia however, never missed a thing and she saw exactly how I acted. 

“Sorry to repeat my earlier question but you didn’t exactly answer me. How do you plan to ensure that?” She asked again. 

“Sorry?” Draco questioned. 

“You seem very confident that you’re going to get on the team and I’m sure that the offer of buying you in is greatly appreciated but we won the Quidditch Cup last year. It’s not like the team exactly needs you. Besides you haven’t even got the dates for try-outs yet.” Draco looked irked that Mia had dared question his ability to get on the team, but I’d been so proud of her the moment she’d said it. We took it as our responsibility to bring Draco down a peg or ten whenever he got too egotistical and it was a daily chore. 

“Well honestly Cavett, who else is going to try out? Anyone here? You said it yourself, our team is good as it is, they will only take the best.” Everyone including myself remained silent, I could feel Mia’s stare burning into the top of my head as I dropped my gaze to the shiny black pumps on my feet. 

“I didn’t think so.” Draco stated. “So of course, when I get on the team, I will be expecting all of you to be there for every match.” We all nodded obediently again, and Draco dropped back into his seat, having made his declaration, he now had little to say meaning we were all able to descend into our own conversations of what had taken place over the summer. 

“What were you going to say?” Theo asked as he pulled out a deck of exploding snap cards and placed them on the table for the four of us to play. 

“Oh, nothing. It doesn’t matter” I smiled as we began our game. 

The train journey passed with relative normalcy, the only oddity of any notability was when Hermione Granger appeared in the Slytherin carriage flanked by Neville Longbottom and a small red-headed girl who was in a black, faded school uniform. I recognised her from Diagon Alley, Ginny – the youngest and last Weasley to join Hogwarts. There were no bets on where she was going to be placed. Hermione appeared to be looking for something, or someone and I wondered if Longbottom had lost his toad for the second year running. But she left without asking any of us a thing and so we all returned back to our own conversations as the day rolled by and the familiar orange glow of a late summers evening appeared. It was only when the train whistle blew and began to slow, signalling to us passengers it was time to collect our things, that Mia confronted me. 

“Why didn’t you say anything about Quidditch?” She whispered as we stuffed our possessions into our bags. I practically saw Theo’s ears twitch as she mentioned it and I knew he’d heard. 

“You’re trying out too.” He said and it wasn’t a question, I nodded stiffly whilst shrugging my shoulder’s at Mia’s question as the three of us hung at the back of the group slowly making their way off the train. 

“Well, you know how he doesn’t like to have the limelight stolen.” I muttered as I shrugged my satchel higher onto my shoulder. 

“And why do you care?” Theo questioned; Mia offered him a ‘thank you!’ expression. 

“I don’t. I honestly just couldn’t be bothered to have an argument about it before we’ve even got to school. I’d rather just show up on the pitch and show how god I am instead of talking a big talk like he does.” My two friends seemed satisfied with my lie and smiled at my façade of confidence. In truth I hadn’t said anything because I did not want my ability called out when I questioned myself at the best of times. 

“You’re right, it’s probably a good idea to wait to fight with Draco until we’re actually at school.” Mia grinned as we headed away from the train and towards the line of self-pulling carriages that would take us up to Hogwarts.


	4. New Faces at the Feast

Rain was pattering heavily against the stained windows of the Great Hall by the time we had all settled into our seats, everyone now in their fresh uniforms. I was surrounded by each of my friends who made up most of the Slytherin’s who had started Hogwarts last year. To our let there were benches of empty goblets and unoccupied seas for the new students. We had all chatted happily between ourselves, my own favourite topic was on the food because since we’d stepped in the castle, I had become ravenous with hunger and I was eager to see the Sorting Ceremony begin and end so I could eat. 

Suddenly, the doors at the far end of the hall opened and McGonagall swept up the middle of the hall, the same as she had last year, wearing the same emerald green robes as the year before as well. The small group of eleven-year olds trotted in behind her, nerves clear on their faces. Their own plain robes were dripping with rainwater from the late summer storm that had started almost the second we had stepped off the train. We were all craning to see the students and I noticed that Fred and George Weasley got to their feet to rustle the hair of their younger sister as she passed. She blushed furiously as she darted out of their reach, bumping into the student next to her. 

“The last Weasley.” I muttered to myself. “Almost sounds like a prophecy.” We all settled back down into our seats once they reached the front of the hall and waited for the ceremony to begin. There were fewer warnings than last year and I was relieved by that – the less things that were around to cause trouble surely meant there would be less trouble we’d be able to get in to. The third-floor corridor was open again meaning that Fluffy the hellhound was most likely gone (Draco and I shared a look of relief at the news). The Forbidden Forest was still…. forbidden and the first years were given the same caution as we had received last year. Dumbledore then took a seat and the ceremony began. Theo and I listened out for notable family names and heard it in the form of a pair of twins who were both sorted into Slytherin. Their name was Fawley and we watched them as they approached the table silently, arms linked together and pointed chins facing down, letting the curtains of dark brunette hair conceal their faces from us. 

“They’re a cheery pair.” Theo smirked and earned a snigger in response. The two of them truly did look macabre but we welcomed them to the table none the less, despite not receiving so much as a look in response. We then watched as Ginny Weasley was sent to Gryffindor, earning eager applause from the table and a gentle clap from Mia. 

As soon as the new students had sat, fifteen knew faces at the Slytherin table, Dumbledore once again got to his feet. It would have been nearly impossible to miss the Aquamarine draped form of Gilderoy Lockhart sat next to Snape and the comparison between the two was almost hilarious to see. Lockhart’s honey coloured hair was smoothed into fixed waves and he smiled a rehearsed smile at the crowd of students. Professor Snape however demonstrated his normal sneer and general look of displeasure whilst shrouded in his own robes of arsenic black – I wondered if he actually owned any other clothes. His expression only morphed into a twisted smile when Filch snuck in through the door behind the teachers table and approached Snape, muttering in his ear. The potions professor quickly got to his feet and followed Filch from the Great Hall as the hat was cleared away and Dumbledore got to his feet to present the feast to everyone. Within seconds a plethora of food had appeared in front of us, a marvellous combination of hot and cold options, sandwiches and bubbling pots of casserole and stew. Pumpkin and orange juice as well as water and hot chocolate. We all dug in, myself piling a large ladle of sausage casserole onto my plate accompanies by my favourite staple of the Hogwarts feasts, Roast Potatoes. I watched with amusement as Mia took hold of the bot of chicken wings that were drowning in BBQ sauce. She tipped the bowl up and scraped a large pile ono her plate before eagerly digging in with a similar gusto to myself. We had all learnt the year before to never mention Mia’s slightly unhealthy obsession with chicken wings. If they were ever on the table, they are what she would be eating. 

“Stop watching me.” she muttered at me across the table as she dropped the bone onto the edge of her plate and began wiping her fingers on her napkin. 

“There’s dumplings down there, I’d grab one before Goyle swallows the dish they’re on.” My attention was instantly diverted, and I jabbed Draco in the ribs, asking him to pass me the dish. He watched with surprise as I dropped four onto my plate. 

“What?” I questioned as the dish made its way back down to the eager hands of Crabbe and Goyle. 

“I just don’t get how you can eat so much food…either of you.” He cast a glance at Mia. “You’re so small.” He shrugged as he carved into his own meal of spaghetti Bolognese and garlic bread. 

“Is that a short joke?” I instantly retorted, arching an eyebrow and eager to point out that he hadn’t gotten that much taller than me over the summer. 

“No. It’s just…you’re small.” I furrowed my eyebrows a slight pink tinge crept across his cheeks but my attention was distracted as I saw Filch return to the hall and summon McGonagall who pursed her lips and got to her feet, marching down the middle of the hall and out of the main doors with the caretaker shuffling awkwardly behind. 

“It must be something to do with Ron and Harry.” Mia commented, swallowing a gulp of pumpkin juice. 

“Hmm?” I questioned slightly through a mouthful of deliciously fluffy potato. 

“They’re not here.” Mia simply replied and I looked round the side of her to see that, true enough, a concerned looking Hermione sat next to two empty seats. It was then that I realised it must have been them that she was looking for on the train. 

“Maybe they’re not coming.” I hoped gleefully, wishing that we might get a quieter school year than the last without any unplanned dramatic conclusions. 

*

It was during desert, whilst Mia and I were sharing a slice of Lemon Meringue Pie that Dumbledore also got to his seat after Filch had returned for a third time and whispered in his ear as well. The entire hall had turned their attention to the great wizard as he had gotten to his feet. 

“Please, conclude your meals and then return to your common rooms. First years, welcome to Hogwarts.” With that his Lavender robes fluttered out behind him as Filch scurried after. I shrugged my shoulders and managed to nab the last piece of meringue from the top of the pie as Mia was distracted. Once she had realised what I had done, she scowled. 

“I’m never sharing desert with you again.” A laugh escaped my lips that was quickly replaced by a groan as I realised just how full I was. Suddenly, I was tired and ready for bed by the time we began to head down to our common room in the dungeons. We’d all left before the first years as they’d all grouped together at the doors of the hall with this year’s prefects. There was little conversation between our group as we’d all filled up on excessive amounts of food. 

“Hey,” Mia’s voice suddenly interrupted my sleepy daydreams of the bed that was waiting for me in the dungeons, “let’s go and see what happened with Harry and Ron.” She was looking upward to the staircase where the Gryffindors were climbing to their own tower.

“How do you even know there’s anything going on?” I questioned, stifling a yawn. 

“How do you know there isn’t?” She replied, already attempting to pull me up the stars with her but I shook my head in defiance. 

“I’m too tired. I just want to go to bed. You go, though.” Mia pouted. 

“Whatever happened to no adventures without the other?” 

“I didn’t anticipate we’d be having adventures quite so early.” I apologised and waved Mia goodbye as she slipped into the Ravenclaws heading up the stairs as I headed down to the dungeons with the rest of the Slytherin’s. 

The common room was a familiar sight of dark woods, stone and floor-to-ceiling windows keeping the lake waters at bay. Our luggage was all in our own rooms and I knew that my broom wold also be there, waiting for me. Jinx and Iris were sat on the back of the large leather sofa, their tails lazily swishing as the flames from the large fireplace warmed their fur. We were all chatting between ourselves when the first years came in with the prefects for the first time, looks of awe on their faces, I stifled a yawn and realised that Mia would probably not be back for a while if she’d managed to come across the Weasley twins when Pansy came running from our dorm and clutched my arm just above the elbow with a wicked grin on her face. 

“You need to explain this.” She hissed and I followed after her, whistling to Iris to get her to follow me. I was faced with the grinning faces of Sally-Anne and Millicent when we got to our room. It was then that I spotted my broom, still wrapped in its packaging paper laying proudly on my untouched bedsheets. 

“Are you trying out for Quidditch?” Sally-Anne questioned as she dragged a brush through her blonde hair. I chewed on my bottom lip, suddenly considering lying and coming up with an elaborate deviation from the truth. 

“I was…thinking about it.” I confessed, wincing as I braced for impact but instead of a barrage of shouting and harsh words, I was instead enveloped in a hug from all three of the girls and I was genuinely surprised. 

“I knew it!” Pansy grinned. “You’re going to be the first girl on the Slytherin Quidditch Team!” 

“Well, I haven’t got on the team, yet.” 

“But you will!” Millicent smiled, nudging me with her shoulder. “You’re an awesome flyer! Better than Malfoy and if he can get in so can you!”

“Thanks.” I smiled gratefully. It really was an unexpected reception I’d received, and I suddenly felt silly for doubting them and confident about trying out for the team at the weekend. I quickly unwrapped my broom in front of my room mates and smiled as they appreciated the fine craftsmanship than had gone into it. I stood it neatly at the foot of my bed as I changed into my pyjamas and slid under my covers with Iris over my feet before I started to read the final few chapters of The Shining. 

*

I was finishing up the last few pages when Mia finally made her way through the door and threw herself onto her bed, yawning. It felt like she had been gone for hours but when I looked at my small alarm clock, I realised it had only been forty-five minutes. The other three girls had long since fallen asleep and my oil lamp was the only illumination in the room. 

“Did you find out the answer to your great mystery?” I whispered, stifling a yawn as I finished the book and snapped the covers shut, sliding it onto my bedside table with the bookmark resting on top. 

“Yes, and it’s hilarious. They stole Mr Weasley’s flying car and flew to school because they missed the train, something about not being able to get through the barrier onto Platform 9 ¾. Anyway, they flew straight into the Whomping Willow, near to the greenhouses? The car is now apparently driving wild in the Forbidden Forest!” She grinned as she tossed me the day’s copy of The Evening Prophet.

“Merlin.” I muttered as I skim read the article and read that they’d been seen by seven muggles across the country in their illegal flying venture to Scotland.

“Mum must be going spare. I’m pretty sure charming a muggle car to fly definitely qualifies as misuse of magic. I bet Fudge is going mental too. The school year has only just started!” 

“I know, it’s ridiculous isn’t it? Why didn’t they just send a letter and wait at the train station?” Mia questioned as she changed into her pyjamas and got under her own covers as Jinx jumped onto her stomach and began purring. 

“Well here’s the evidence as to why neither of them was placed in Ravenclaw.” I yawned, dropping the newspaper over the side of my bed. 

“We’ve not even been here twelve hours and by the look on Snape’s face, he already can’t wait for the Christmas holidays to arrive.” Mia grinned as I stifled a yawn, shuffling further under my covers and struggling to keep my eyes open. Eventually the conversation thinned and we both fell into a well-deserved sleep.


	5. Herbology

Chapter 5 – Herbology

The first morning of the new school year was the same every twelve months. If someone had forgotten something – that was the morning you were going to realise, and the common room was always full of students bartering for missed school supplies with treats from home. I wasn’t alone in this venture, having turned my turned my trunk inside out that morning and realising that somehow, despite checking my packing multiple times before leaving, I had managed to forget my gloves for Herbology and after Snape distributed our timetables as soon as we were awake, I saw that we had our first lesson with Professor Sprout. I knew I didn’t have enough time to get them from home, nor did I really want to receive a smug worded letter from my Mother where she knew I would forget something. So instead I remained silent and hoped that none of the plants we were going to be introduced to would be too dangerous. 

Breakfast was a vast assortment of toast, porridge and cereals under the grey cloudy sky of the enchanted ceiling. A warm cup of tea accompanied my choice of a fried breakfast that particular morning. Two slices of buttered toast were joined on my plate and my overly greedy eyes spotted a lone rasher of bacon on the gold platter between Draco and me. As I reached forward, intent on stabbing it with my fork, I noticed that he had exactly the same idea at the exact same time. The prongs of the two forks entangled themselves and the sensation set my teeth on edge. 

“I will fight you for it.” I muttered, eager not to attract the attention of our housemates who would no doubt find it ridiculous that we were fighting over a rasher of bacon.

“You’ve already had three!” He hissed in response. 

“So? I’m hungry.” He rolled his eyes, but I saw the hint of mischievous determination – we both knew the plate would refill itself once the last rasher was gone but that wasn’t the point. 

Suddenly our attention was diverted by the familiar screech of owls as the first daily post-delivery arrived. Everyone suddenly looked up to spot their families owls as they swooped above the tables, delicately dropping to their own recognised witch and wizard. A large gust of wind blew my hair over my shoulders as Draco’s huge Eagle Owl landed on the bench next to him, dropping a large packet of sweets into his hand along with a copy of the Daily Prophet. I took the opportunity where had receive the parcel to steal the last rasher of bacon only to see the platter refill itself again. Draco scowled at me as I happily munched on the salty meat only to be distracted again by a large flash from the Gryffindor table. I watched as Ron Weasley tentatively pulled a red envelope from the beak on an incredibly scruffy looking owl that as on its back in a bowl of cereal.

“Oh dear.” I mumbled as the colour drained from Ron’s face and his fingers began to tremble. 

“What?” Mia suddenly, asked, having looked up from her book with a mouthful of porridge. 

“It would appear that Ron has received a howler.” A smile began to stretch across my lips as I reached for yet another rasher of bacon only to have Draco lift up the whole platter and deposit it into his plate. I scowled heavily before deciding that the outcome of Ron’s howler was going to be much more interesting than any more food that I really was too full for anyway. The whole hall had gone quiet in anticipation as his trembling fingers cracked the wax seal and let the envelope fall onto our table. Within seconds, it had shot upwards towards Ron’s face and the voice that I assumed must belong to a very angry Mrs Weasley bellowed throughout the hall. 

“RONALD WEASLEY!” I had to clap my hand over my mouth to supress the laughter that I could already feel bubbling in my stomach. 

“HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLOUTLEY DISGUSTED! I’M SURPRISED THEY HAVEN’T EXPELLED YOU – YOU WAIT ‘TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU! YOUR FATHER AND I DID NOT RAISE YOU TO BEHAVE THIS WAY, I THOUGHT HE WOULD DIE FROM THE SHAME OF IT! HE STILL MIGHT AND IT WILL BE ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! I SUPPOSE YOU DIDN’T STOP TO THINK HOW THIS WOULD LOOK ON US DID YOU?! NO OF COURSE NOT – YOU AND HARRY COULD HAVE DIED I HONESTLY CANNOT BELIEVE IT! YOUR FATHER IS NOW FACING AN ENQUIRY AT WORK AND ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT PUTTING ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE- WE’LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!”

The red howler turned away from Ron who had a look of sheer terror on his face and floated over to Ginny who had her head ducked in the hope no one would notice her. 

“Congratulations on making Gryffindor, Ginny dear – your father and I are so proud.” The howler then blew a raspberry in Ron’s face and tore itself into tiny shreds and then fell onto the desk. Mia’s hand was still clapped over her mouth and I laughed into my goblet of orange juice as normal chatter returned to the hall. Ron Weasley had dropped so low in his seat, only his embarrassed forehead as visible. I’d been so engrossed in the event unfolding that I hadn’t noticed my families Great Grey Owl sitting beside me until he pecked my shoulder and held out his leg. I untied the package and popped a treat into his mouth. He swallowed it gratefully, let me scratch under his chin, screeched loudly at Draco’s owl and took off again. 

“What did you get?” Mia questioned. I ripped open the brown paper and sighed a breath of relief as my gloves tumbled onto the table. I quickly examined the note from my mother. 

Good thing I spotted these before heading into work. I’m sure you heard what the Weasley’s did to their car – tell that son of theirs I do not appreciate the extra workload.   
\- Love, Mum x 

“I forgot my Herbology gloves. I knew Mum would notice. Look, told you she’d be the one investigating the flying car debacle.” Mia skim read it the note before handing it back to me. 

“Oh dear. Are you going to tell Ron?” I looked over to the Gryffindor and shook my head. 

“No. He’s had enough embarrassment for one day. I don’t think there’s much need to cause even more of a scene.” I sighed as we all got to our feet and began to head down to the greenhouses outside the school. There were four greenhouses in total, all located under the two main bell towers of the castle. I remembered from the year prior that they were all horribly humid, meaning any day spent in them was a day my hair was treated with AlwaysSleek hair tonic when I washed it in the morning, I did not want to be doing an impression of Hermione Granger by the time our lesson ended. 

There was a small room outside of the greenhouses that allowed us to hang up our bags and cloaks before changing into brown smocks and gloves and heading into the humid glass room with a large long bench up the middle of the room that was covered in plants next to empty pots. The leaves of the plants were all moving slightly, and everyone’s interest was suddenly piqued. We all stood patiently along the bench and waited quietly, wondering where our Professor was. Eventually she appeared with her short arms cradling bundles of bandages and bottles of tonic. An older student, a Hufflepuff who looked as though he maybe a sixth or seventh year followed after her. Mia and I peered out of the grimy greenhouse windows and saw the Whomping Willow in the distance, its branches were covered in bandages and some were even in slings. It was then that I realised the professor and her older student had been treating the tree from the damage Harry and Ron must have caused by flying the car into it. 

“Welcome to Greenhouse Two, Second years! Apologies for my tardiness, I’m sure you’ve heard by now what occurred last night…” Professor Sprout exclaimed as she unloaded her arms of medical treatment. She then dismissed her older student and clapped her hands together – focusing on the lesson before her. 

“Today we will be re-potting Mandrakes. Now, who can tell me what a Mandrake is?” One hand shot up almost instantly and it wasn’t Hermione Granger for a change. The Gryffindor’s had Herbology with the Ravenclaws in the afternoon, we had it with the Hufflepuff’s in the morning and it made me hopeful that our Herbology lessons would highly uneventful without the presence of Harry Potter. 

“Yes? Miss Miller?” Professor Sprout gestured to the Hufflepuff with her hand still raised. 

“Mandrakes, also known by their other name of Mandragora are most often used as a powerful restorative.” The girl answered. “They are quite like humans in their behaviours. They cry like babies when they are young, can become moody and withdrawn prior to adolescence and a sign that they have fully matured is when they begin to climb into one another’s pots and which time they can be cut up and used in Mandrake Restorative Draught which is used to return people who have been petrified to their original state. Ironically, however the mandrakes cry is actually deadly itself, being fatal to anyone who hears it.” 

The Hufflepuff’s surrounding the table smiled happily as Professor Sprout awarded ten points to her own house for her undeniably extensive Herbology knowledge. Mia and I exchanged looks.

“She’s Hufflepuff’s answer to Hermione Granger.” Mia muttered. 

“Ooh, I wonder if Slytherin and Ravenclaw have one too?” I questioned rhetorically as we examined our classmates, deciding that none of them were smart enough to qualify. 

“Now, because these Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won’t kill you, yet. But they are still quite powerful and so, I’ve given you all a set of earmuffs for your own protection. So, if you could put them all on a please, nice and quickly.” We all hurriedly reached for the earthy brown earmuffs and (Mia and I, reluctantly) pressed them firmly against our ears. 

“Now!” Professor Sprout shouted from the front of the class, we all strained to hear her through the compression of the earmuffs. 

“We’re going to repot the mandrakes! So, you take them firmly by the leaves, in one sharp movement…rip them up!” With that the most hideous plant I’d ever seen was pulled from the terracotta pot and began screeching a horrific sound in the open air. My hands clamped down over my earmuffs and the sound worked its way through into my eardrums. Professor Sprout grimaced at the wrinkly turnip shaped plant that was screaming in her hand before dropping it into an empty pot next to the one she had pulled it from. 

“Sprinkle in some fresh soil to keep it warm and it will eventually calm down!” She shouted before we heard a thud to the back of the room. We all spun round to see that Crabbe had collapsed onto the dirty greenhouse floor. 

“There’s always someone who thinks they don’t need the earmuffs.” 

“He fainted!” Goyle shouted. 

“Ah. Well just leave him there.” She turned to the rest of us. “Now, plenty of pots to go around, take hold of the leaves…” We all hesitantly took steps forward, four to a tray of rustling Mandrakes, and grasped the leaves of our plants. Mia and I shared a grimace as we anticipated the assault on our hearing. 

“…and rip them straight up!” The greenhouse was suddenly filled with the sound of about twenty screaming mandrakes. Each one was uglier than the last though, I think one Hufflepuff certainly won the contest on which was the worst. His was exceptionally large and exceptionally wrinkly. It really was an ugly being. Draco’s cried as much as anyone else’s but in a typical egotistical move to look better than everyone else he tried to offer his finger to quieten it. Instead it just bit down harshly, a pain that was evidently felt through his dragon hide gloves. A snort of laughter escaped me which earned me the second scowl of the day as he dropped it into the empty pot, not bothering with the new soil. 

“There, there little Mandrake. It’s not so bad.” Mia spoke soothingly to her plant, which miraculously began to quieten down at her hushed words. 

“Let’s get you in a nice knew pot, yes? Here you go, settle in …here’s some lovely, fresh warm soil for you.” She patted the soil around the Mandrake gently, a small smile on her face as she continued to gently hush the baby plant. 

“Wonderful, Miss Cavett! I’ve never seen someone sooth a Mandrake by talking to it – in fact I’ve never seen anyone soothe a Mandrake at all. Ten points to Slytherin!” Mia smiled at our teacher, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes and as soon as the professor turned around, she was muttering to her plant once again. 

“Perhaps if you were a bit kinder to them, you wouldn’t be screaming all the time. Isn’t that right little one? You’re treated horribly, aren’t you?” Her finger tickled at the now silent Mandrake’s leaves, and I watched on in pure fascination, forgetting the screaming plant that was still clutched in my gloved fist. Mia’s gaze suddenly snapped to me and her smile vanished.

“Will you please get that poor thing in a new pot, he’ll be freezing.” Mia instructed sternly, and I happily obliged, the screeching dying down once the soil surrounded it. Mia then reached forward, grasping Draco’s plant and gently wrapping a layer of soil around it, soothing it from its own crying fit. Moving the pots to the wall of the greenhouse helped even more, where the rest of the plants finally quietened once they were in the sun. 

“Keep going, everyone. There’s plenty of them to do!” Professor Sprout grinned as another student fainted from the screaming, the mandrake fell to the floor before beginning to crawl along the stone only to be retrieved by Sprout and put in another pot. 

“I do not like Herbology.” I muttered once the lesson had ended and the Mandrake’s had finally quietened down. We’d gone straight from 9am until lunch and I was starving after repotting the plants for two hours. Crabbe still hadn’t regained consciousness and Professor Sprout had instructed Goyle and Theo to take him back down to the dungeons so he could rest before our afternoon lessons. 

Lunch was mostly missed due to me spending the majority of the hour aggressively scrubbing the first from beneath my fingernails in the girl’s bathroom. I had then taken my go-to pastel pink nail varnish and spent the remainder of lunch half eating a sandwich and half destroying everyone’s appetite with the strong smell of acetone. 

By the time we got to Transfiguration, my rumbling stomach meant I was sorely regretting having made such poor choices at lunch. Yes, I had a near perfect manicure but now I was hungry and grouchy and that wasn’t going to be good for anyone. We’d expected our second yea to be hard work, McGonagall’s classes had always been challenging but luckily, where Mia had a knack for Herbology, I had a knack for Transfiguration – easily transforming a beetle into a button as per McGonagall’s request. It took Mia a moment longer than me. but she managed to get hang of the spell eventually. Ron, however, never stood a chance. Apparently, his wand had been nearly snapped entirely in half during their crash into the Whomping Willow and the only thing he’d managed to source to ‘repair’ it with was Sellotape that was proving highly ineffective. Every time he cast a spell; he was engulfed in a thick cloud of grey smoke that smelled of rotten eggs almost making me glad I’d skipped lunch. All in all, I was glad when the class ended, and we could escape the room that would need ventilating for at least two days to get rid of the smell. 

“Which class is next?” I questioned Mia as she hastily pulled out her timetable. 

“Defence Against the Dark Arts.” She stated with an arched eyebrow. “I guess we’re finally about to experience the wonder of Gilderoy Lockhart.”


	6. Defence Against the Dark Arts

I was personally quite impressed that Draco and Harry had nearly got a whole twenty-four hours into the new school year without having an argument. But it had been bound to happen sooner or later and the ten minutes between our next two classes was apparently the perfect opportunity. Harry apparently was being stalked by the eager first year I had seen with the camera on Platform 9 3/4, everywhere the tiny blonde Gryffindor went, a puff of smoke from his camera would follow and it was obvious that Harry was his favourite subject. It was when we happened to overhear the end of a conversation whereby Colin Creevey seemed to ask Harry to sign a photo for him. Harry had refused but it didn’t matter, Draco had heard all he needed to. 

“Signing photos?” Draco had stopped in his tracks and given that I was walking only a few paces behind him, I’d ended up walking directly into the back of him before tutting loudly and rolling my eyes, wanting to be irritated by the situation but also wanting to see how this would play out. 

“You’re giving out signed photos, now Potter?” Draco repeated, his voice echoed across the courtyard, getting everyone’s attention. 

“For the love of Merlin.” I whispered to myself, “just one day without any drama, that’s all I want.” 

“Everyone, queue up!” Draco roared, “Harry Potter is giving out signed photos!” 

“No, I’m not.” Harry replied, fists clenching at his side. “Shut up, Malfoy.”

“You’re just jealous.” Colin piped up. He was a scrawny child; his whole body was about as thick as Goyle’s arm. One could argue that he was brave for speaking out – but we knew better. 

“Oh dear, little one.” Mia muttered next to me. “Know when you’re out of your depth.” Colin Creevey was yet to learn that for reasons unknown, Draco Malfoy did not respond well to being told he was jealous, about anything or anyone. His response to Colin was shouted at an unnecessarily loud octave, half the courtyard was already listening. I however was phasing in and out like an untuned radio. I only noticed when Ron whipped out his sellotaped wand and pointed it straight at Draco. A sharp intake of breath was taken in perfect unison between Mia and me. If a full-on fight was going to happen, we wanted to be as far away from the fallout as possible. I had taken head of my Father’s warning at the beginning of the year and I was sure I would die from the embarrassment if he was to send me howler like the one Ron received.

Luckily, (or unluckily, depending on how you felt about him) the situation quickly diffused when Gilderoy Lockhart strode into the courtyard, his turquoise robes swirling around him. 

“What’s all this then? Did I hear someone is giving out signed photos?” Harry opened his mouth to speak but his effort was futile. As soon as Lockhart had planted his eyes on him, he had flung his arm around his shoulders and his thundering voice had filled the courtyard. 

“Shouldn’t have needed to ask! Harry, we meet again!” Harry was instantly pinned to Lockhart’s side, his face clearly burning with humiliation as Mia and I sniggered to ourselves at his new ‘teacher pet’ status. 

“Come on then, young Mr Creevey!” Lockhart called, apparently more eager to hold the attention of the courtyard than Draco had been. 

“A double portrait, and we’ll both sign it for you! Can’t say fairer than that can you?” Colin eagerly fumbled for his camera as I had to place my hand over my mouth to keep me from laughing out loud at the expression of sheer horror on Harry’s face. The bell for our next class rang at the exact moment that Colin took the picture and we all eagerly headed off for our final class of the day. Mia and I linked arms as we headed indoors and in the direction of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, listed as Classroom 3C on our timetable. Three floors up along the Serpentine Corridor, snakes carved into the walls and encircling the pillars that were always lit with flames due to the lack of windows. It seemed ironic, almost that the approach where we would learn how to combat dark magic was one of the eeriest places in the castle – particularly at night. 

We were already waiting by the door once Lockhart arrived, still eagerly chatting away to Harry whilst we all filed into the classroom. 

“Now, now! I think that a seating charter would be best!” We all groaned in unity, each of us preparing excuses as to why we had to sit with the people we always sat with. Lockhart whipped out a sheet of parchment and it tore itself into pieces, our names glistening in elegant gold script. I watched as mine dropped down to a middle pair of seats on the far left of the class. Next to it was the name Faye Miller and it was only when I sat down that I noticed she was the same girl from Herbology. She was considerably shorter than me, only coming up to my shoulder as she dropped her satchel that was fraying at the edges onto the floor and slid onto the bench. I watched as Mia trudged over to her seat that was on the other end of the class and couldn’t help but smile sympathetically as she dropped next to Draco and glared over at me like it was somehow my fault, she’d been sat next to him. I could only shrug in response to her as I reached into my bag an pulled out a roll of parchment, my quill and pot of ink. I’d accidentally left all seven of Lockhart’s books in my dorm room and hoped that they wouldn’t be needed. I watched as the Hufflepuff next to me also placed her equipment on the desk. Her ink pot had dried debris around the edge from where it had previously leaked, her parchment was folded at odd angles to fit into her bag and she smoothed it out against the desk with her palm as I pulled on the black ribbon that kept mine rolled up tightly. Her parchment had rough sketches of plants along the top – Herbology was clearly a subject she was passionate about. 

Once everyone was seated and quiet, Lockhart cleared his throat to ensure all attention was on him. As soon as he was sure that he had our undivided attention, he reached forward and took Neville Longbottom’s copy of Travels with Tolls from his desk and held it up next to his face, mirroring the winking portrait of himself on the cover. 

“Me.” He stated proudly as if that point needed clarifying, I groaned internally and checked my watch. His face was everywhere, every portrait in the room was of him and I highly doubted it had been that way before he’d been hired. 

“Gilderoy Lockhart. Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and five times winner of Witch Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award…” Mia and I caught one another’s gaze across the room, it as a ‘I’m so looking forward to six years of this’ look. 

“…but I don’t talk about that. I didn’t get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!” He waited for a laugh and only received one from Hermione Granger, but it vanished as quickly as it had come when she realised, she was the only one. She awkwardly cleared her throat as Lockhart continued and I found myself glancing at my watch again, wondering if the whole lesson was going to pass by with Lockhart just talking about himself.

“I see you’ve all brought a complete set of my books – well done.” I noticed him stop briefly when he reached my desk obviously seeing the blank space where everyone else’s was filled with books. He opened his mouth to speak before Faye slowly nudged her books into the middle and smiling sweetly up at Lockhart. He returned her smile before continuing on again but this time I had tuned out of his rhetoric entirely. 

“Thanks.” I whispered. She smiled politely, the freckles across her nose crunching slightly. 

“It’s ok. I wanted to leave mine behind too, they’re so heavy and I don’t know if I believe some of what’s in to be honest.”

“I don’t think you’re the only one.” I replied as Lockhart swept around the room dropping sheets of parchment onto our desks. 

“Oh, we’re actually going to do some work.” She stated with a pressed smile. I looked down at the document as Lockhart declared we had thirty minutes and the room fell silent except for the rustling of parchment sheets as we all turned them over to read the writing. 

“Oh, I don’t believe it.” I muttered, once again seeking out Mia’s expression but all I was met with was her twirling her quill in her hands, clearly marking the same answer off on each question and not caring whether they were right or not. I couldn’t blame her; the questions were ridiculous; 

1 – What is Gilderoy Lockhart’s favourite colour?   
2 – What is Gilderoy Lockhart’s secret ambition?   
3 – What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart’s greatest achievement to date? 

I couldn’t believe my eyes as it went on and on for three pages, the questions were crammed on, as many as he could fit. But the final one really took the cake. 

54 – When is Gilderoy Lockhart’s birthday and what would his ideal gift be? 

“This is ridiculous.” I muttered to myself, leaving my name off the top of the document and barely answering any of the questions. If this was the content hidden in between the ego-clad covers of Lockhart’s books, then I was quite frankly glad I hadn’t taken the effort to read any of them. Maybe if I brought it up with Snape, he could get him sacked. 

Half an hour later, Lockhart had collected the papers and spent a few moments going through them. The class waited in silence, most of it down to the sheer audacity that Lockhart possessed. He looked up to us with disdain and disappointment. 

“Tut, tut – hardly any of you remembered that my favourite colour is Lilac. Some of you do really need to pay better attention to your reading material, I say my favourite colour in Year with a Yeti. Also, I suggest that you re-read Wandering’s with Werewolves again – chapter twelve is where I clearly state that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples. Though I can’t say no to a large bottle of Ogden’s Old Firewhisky if any of you are thinking of an early Christmas present for you favourite professor!” I swore my eyebrows must have vanished hairline at that point, the man in front of us was so egotistical he left Draco in the dust. I wasn’t the only one with an expression of disbelief on their face, Mia’s mouth was literally handing open with shock whilst two Gryffindors shook with laughter at the front of the class. Hermione Granger, however, was hanging onto Lockhart’s every word and she was so enraptured in his presence that she physically jumped when he mentioned her name. 

“…Miss Granger knew my secret ambition to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions. Good girl!” 

“Correct me if I’m wrong.” Faye whispered. “But isn’t the whole point of a secret ambition the fact that no one knows about it?” I shrugged my shoulders as I once again checked my watch, eager for the class to end. After identifying Hermione and awarding her ten points for her obvious obsession with him, Lockhart finally began to actually teach, or so we thought. He turned to his desk, reached behind it and lifted a cloth covered cage onto the top where we could all see it. It just looked like a cage you might keep for your owl to sleep in. 

“Now – be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard-kind!” I leant forward with genuine interest for as to what was in the cage on his desk. 

“You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm.” Lockhart placed a slow hand on the cover as the whole class hitched their breath. 

“I must ask you not to scream…” He smirked, gripping the fabric in his hand. “It might provoke them!” With that, he ripped the cover away to expose a cage brimming with tiny blue fluttering pixies. 

“Cornish pixies?!” A small Irish Gryffindor asked from the front of the class. I slouched back in my seat, visibly disappointed. It was such an anti-climax and I was more than ready for the class to be over by now. 

“Freshly caught Cornish pixies!” Lockhart declared proudly. The moment he’d removed the cover, they had begun causing a riot within the cage, shaking on the metal walls and trying to rock it back and forth – luckily due to their eight-inch height, they had little success. The same Gryffindor continued to laugh loudly as Lockhart reached for the cage door. 

“Laugh if you will, Mr Finnigan. Let’s see what you make of them…now!” He opened the door and it was instant pandemonium. The pixies shot out of the door and in every direction they could, instantly throwing books to the floor and knocking paintings from the wall. Shrieks were heard all over the classroom and I rapidly grabbed my bag, hoisting it onto my shoulder, my wand firm in my grip as I watched two pixies descend on Neville Longbottom and take hold of his ears, raising him into the air until they reached the giant skeleton that was suspended from the ceiling and letting him hang from it by the collar of his robes. 

A group of pixies flew out of the windows, showering us in glass and I winced as I felt a shard cut my cheek. Mia quickly joined my side as we watched the pixies throw ink pots over students, tear pages out of everyone’s copies of Lockhart’s books and just cause general chaos. Some students had already fled the classroom, not caring that the lesson wasn’t over, and Mia and I were following closely behind. We just caught Lockhart as he attempted to cast a spell to control the pixies, but it had no effect whatsoever, and the pixies simply grabbed his wand and threw it out of the window. We then watched with disbelief as Lockhart swooped under his desk, concealing himself from view of the pixies. Somehow, over the raucous of the pixies we managed to hear the bell finally signalling the end of the class and we wasted no time in rushing out of the door and into the safety of the corridor. Mia and I were walking quick conjunction and somehow, Faye had managed to stay with us, a few paces behind. 

“I barely believed all the things he said he’d done before that.” She finally whispered. “Now, I am seriously starting to question that man’s credentials.” 

“Join the club.” Mia agreed.


	7. Quidditch Tryouts

I awoke on Saturday morning with a deep-seated feeling of anxiety – driven nausea in my stomach. Everyone else in the dorm was sleeping soundly as I sat up in my bed, seriously questioning myself for what must have been the hundredth time in the past twenty-four hours. The curtains were still drawn around my four-poster bed, keeping Iris and I in a velvet green sanctuary until the two of us were ready to face the world and today I felt like that time may never come.

As soon as I had worked up the energy to leave the confinement of my bed, I headed straight for the bathrooms. There were separate bathrooms for the girls and boys, and I couldn’t imagine that any in the castle were grander than ours. The floor was laid with grey and white patterned tiles, each with a different intricate design painted on it. Large stained-glass windows were at the far end with moving animations of the giant squid and Mer-people swimming across the illustration and the sun in the window cast its own light to make up for the absence of us being underwater. Showers lined the walls with porcelain sinks opposite and large copper bathtubs were in secluded rooms where the water ran bright colours. A flick of my wand sent hibiscus bath salts falling into the water with gentle sounds reminiscent of rain drops on a windowpane. Steam quickly filled the air, shrouding the whole room in a floral scented mystery. I quickly dropped myself into the water that was slightly too hot, my wand poked through my hair to keep it off the back of my neck. I sunk deeper into the water until the exhale of breath caused faint rippled across the bathwater.

I tried my best to relax into the hot waters and let my worries melt away with the bubbles – however my mind ran riot given I wasn’t doing anything productive so after about half an hour I gave up and dried myself off. I’d brought my clothes with me so got dressed in the bathroom, smearing the steam off the mirror to plait my hair into two French braids. I took in my appearance and grimaced at the flush red appearance my cheeks had adopted, framed by damp tendrils of loose hair that were too short to be pulled into the braid. I had chosen leggings and my Kenmare Kestrels T-shirt to the pitch, and I hoped that I didn’t encounter anyone other than potentials hopefuls along the way.

Luckily my hopes seemed to have paid off and I had made it to the courtyard outside the Great Hall before I’d seen anyone else. A thin mist was hanging across the pink and gold sky as my breath fogged and evaporated in front of me. A small group of students were gathered by the stone fountain, brooms in hand and I clutched my own etched handle as I sucked in a breath and approached them with my tongue pressed in between my teeth.

“You’re trying out for Quidditch?” I heard a familiar voice question and I instantly spotted the white-blonde head of Draco. His hair was styled identically to every other day, slicked neatly back and I suddenly became conscious of just how much of a mess I must be looking.

“Of course, she is. She’s the best hope of Slytherin winning the Quidditch Cup again this year.” Mia’s voice retorted instantly as she appeared by my side. Her scarf was wrapped tightly under her chin and her cloak was clasped at her throat. She was oozing confidence and I suddenly found myself less anxious about the venture I was about to head out on. Draco nodded curtly at Mia’s response and simply turned away from the two of us.

“I thought you were still sleeping?” I questioned quietly as the two of us took a seat on the stones of the fountain, I rested my broom next to me as the group of students waited to be summoned down to the pitch.

“You didn’t honestly think I was going to miss you getting on the team, did you? I’ve got that first year Gryffindor lined up to do a photo op with you when you succeed.” I knew she was lying but I had to see the signature smirk on her lips to be sure – Mia’s sarcastic voice sometimes blended so easily into her normal dialect it was scary.

“No, I suppose it was rather naïve of me to think that you would.” Mia nodded in agreement.

“Yes, it would have been. Now, tell me. Why have you been questioning yourself so much about it?” I turned to her with an expression of slight surprise, I hadn’t voiced my concerns to anyone other than Alec and I knew he wouldn’t have told anyone.

“How do you know that?” She simply shrugged, producing a flask from the inner pocket of her cloak and unscrewing the lid to take a gulp of what turned out to be sweet tea.

“I got a feeling…so, what’s up?” It was my turn to shrug as I considered my response. Unfortunately, my hesitation took too long and the Slytherin Captain had appeared before us, two teammates behind him, ready to begin the try-outs. We were summoned down to the pitch and Mia and I walked in perfect synchronisation as we approached one of my favourite places at the school.

The Quidditch pitch seemed so much bigger when we were actually stood on the grass and not high above in the stands. Our chattering voices echoed around the empty field as we all made our way into the middle of the large oval. Mia separated from us to take a seat on some temporary wooden benches where there was a small pile of numbered vests and the trunk of playing balls that we would be using that morning. All of us who were trying out stood in a small group in the middle of the pitch and waited for the team captain to begin his instructions. As well as being one of the best players I’d ever seen, the captain of the Slytherin team also happened to be Mia’s older brother, Bellamy. Much like my own, he shared a deep passion for Quidditch and was playing as our team Keeper – he was also undeniably one of the best talents Hogwarts had to offer. In many ways, Bellamy Cavett was simply a male version of his younger sister. Their hair was almost identical shades of blonde and their eyes were strikingly similar colours. But where Mia had a deep-seated dislike for flying, Bellamy was much happier on a broom than off of it.

“Now, we have several positions open this year due to older students having graduated. A seeker and reserve, a chaser and reserve and a reserve keeper. I’m sure that all of you have worked out from that, there won’t be a spot for all of you.” I examined the group and Bellamy was right, there were five open positions and at least ten of us waiting to fill them. Half of us were going to end up disappointed.

“Probably best for some people to leave now then, right Bell?” A tall fourth year noted. I hadn’t paid much attention to his comment until I looked at him and realised it was aimed at me. For a split second, I considered staying quiet but then I heard Mia’s voice almost from the bench telling me not to take it.

“Get going then.” I snapped and had to stop myself from smirking at my own wit, even if it had been delayed. A few sniggers scattered across the group and I suddenly found myself holding my head a little higher. Our attention was only pulled from the embarrassed blush crawling across his cheeks when Bellamy clapped his hands together.

“Enough. We don’t discredit one another before we’ve even had a chance to prove ourselves.” He then turned directly to the fourth year – the two of them were apparently not as close as the fourth year had wanted me to believe.

“If she turns out to be terrible, then you can say all you want. But if she proves to be better than you, then you need to learn how to swallow your pride.” I smiled slightly and was pleased when a friendly wink was sent my way from Bellamy. Being best friends with the Quidditch captain’s sister certainly had its perks.

“Now, we’re going to split you into the positions for which you will be competing with one another. Flint will take the prospective chasers, Derrick the beaters. I will see to the Keeper and the Seeker. Good luck to everyone and remember, there are no losers…only winners and those who aren’t them.”

“Good Luck.” Draco said before quickly marching over to where Bellamy was stood, showing off his obviously new broom. I’d not had a chance to see the model, but it looked familiar…I just couldn’t think where I’d seen it. I looked over to Mia who sent me two encouraging thumbs up before unscrewing her flask and drinking some more tea, unfolding the mornings edition of the Daily Prophet on her lap.

I followed Bellamy’s orders and slowly trudged over to Marcus Flint, a familiar face from many of my mother’s large parties that were scattered throughout the social calendar year. I had never found him to be a particularly interesting individual, but if it would get me the spot on the team that I sought after then I would say whatever I needed to. I was displeased to see the fourth year separate into our little group of four, another Slytherin who was unknown to me was also vying for the spot of Chaser, it was obviously a popular position to play. The way I saw it was that they could fight it out between themselves to be the reserve player, I was going to be on the team roster for this year.

“Alright.” Marcus stated, getting our attention and I looked away from where Bellamy was preparing to drill the Keepers and Seekers.

“The way this works is, you will each get a chance to fly in a ‘mock match’. I’ll watch from here; you only get one chance so if you mess up – take your broom and leave. You get one chance in a match; you get one chance now.” I nodded confidently as I mounted my broom, suddenly excited at the prospect of being able to prove myself to my peers. Of course, I’d practised in the secrecy of my families garden all summer and had gone over tactics of play and the rules and listened to old match coverage since we’d got to school, and when I took off into the air and began to drills Flint had instructed us to perform, I knew it had all been worth it.

I’d already managed to score thirty points by the time I heard Mia’s voice cheering me on over the sound of wind blasting in my ears. When I looked own, all I could see was a tiny blonde head bobbing up and down, though she was soon joined by the other girls in our dorm and I couldn’t help but feel grateful for their show of support. I didn’t let it distract me, however, as we were given yet another drill to complete. This time it was to attempt to score as many goals as we could with Bellamy in front of the hoops.

I received the Quaffle from Flint, examined where Bellamy was and already knew in my head how he preferred to guard the goals. I tucked the ball tightly under one arm and gripped the handle of my broom tightly. The sun had breached the horizon by now and Bellamy was right in front of it, practically concealing himself from view and I knew it must have been intentional, there was no weather bad enough that would result in a Quidditch game being cancelled so we had to be able to play with little to no visibility of other players and that’s what he was testing me on. As I raced towards the hoops, existing team members acting as opposing players and trying to take the ball from me. I managed to swerve all of them and approached the hoops, Bellamy was right in front of the highest middle and with the Quaffle tucked under my left arm I knew he expected me to swerve to the right hoop, I could see him already leaning that way and when I’d decided he’d committed just enough, I sharply turned to the left and sent the ball flying straight through the lower left hoop. As I swooped back around to repeat the drill again, I saw Bellamy clapping from his position.

By the time we touched back down, my stomach was growling heavily for breakfast and all tiredness from before had completely gone. I knew my hair was nothing short of a knotted mess and my cheeks would be an embarrassingly bright shade of pink from the wind, but I didn’t care, I felt great and it was addictive. We all grouped together again as the balls were packed away (the bludgers took a while as they were not willing participants) and Bellamy clapped his hands together to give us a debrief. I had spotted Mia at the edge of the pitch with Pansy, Millie and Sally-Anne, she was smiling widely and that did nothing more than boost my confidence even further.

“Thank you, everyone. The team roster will be up in the Common Room by tonight so go and have a good Saturday and we will see you all again this evening for the announcement.” We all nodded and began to head off the pitch. Mia ran over to meet me before I could make it over to them all.

“Oh, my goodness, you were so good! I mean, I knew you were good, but you were so good!” She grinned, hugging me tightly.

“Thanks.” I laughed as the other three girls reiterated Mia’s statement.

“Good for a girl maybe,” I heard a voice goad. “But there’s a reason they don’t make the team. You would never be able to keep up.” I turned to see the same fourth year who, for some reason, appeared to have a strong dislike for me. Not that I wasn’t used to that by now, most of the school had some form of apathy towards me and my housemates, but I didn’t expect that same attitude from one.

“I guess we’ll see tonight, when they announce the team, won’t we?” Mia smiled sweetly with her most unauthentic smile. She linked her elbow with mine and pulled me towards the castle before I could descend into a pointless argument with him.

“Thanks for that.” I muttered once we had gotten into the Great Hall, the smell of hot bacon causing my mouth to water. I had dropped my broom onto the floor under our long bench as we’d sat to begin piling food onto our plates.

“I’ve got you.” She replied, spreading jam onto a piece of toast before eagerly biting into it. It was something we were remarkably capable of, keeping one another out of trouble just enough to scrape through the school year. When it came to causing general mischief, we were far too willing to talk one another out of anything. But when people tried to encourage genuine arguments out of us, we knew how to wisely choose our battles.

I had barely managed to curb my hunger before the familiar presence of Alec dropped down into the seat next to me.

“So?” He questioned, taking a fork and stealing the sausage from my plate.

“So, what?” I asked innocently, retrieving another one from a platter in the middle of the table. Alec sighed and rolled his eyes, quickly chewing through his food so he could repeat the question.

“How did it go?” I shrugged casually, keen not to raise anyone’s expectations too much. I was confident I had done well but if I did get on the team, I’d be having to prove myself in more ways than one.

“Ok.” I muttered, sipping on a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

“Just Ok?” Alec questioned impatiently, looking expectantly at Mia.

“She was great! If I was Quidditch I would have picked her straight away!”

“That’s great!” Alec clapped me on the back, causing me to instantly choke on a mouthful of scrambled egg. I coughed furiously for what felt like ages before I managed to inhale long enough to swallow some water and eventually regulate my breathing again. I glared furiously at my brother, knowing my face had turned beet red which would look horrendous against my hair.

“Sorry.” Alec smirked, I knew he was suppressing the urge to laugh at me but that was an easy way to start a fight between him and I. I clambered backwards over the bench and retrieved my broom from underneath.

“I’m going to take a shower. I’ll see you in the common room.” I said to Mia before turning my attention back to my brother.

“I’ll tell you as soon as I know what the roster says.” He smiled before standing up and wrapping me in his arms. It was a rare display of emotion that even Mia displaying a look of surprise.

“I’m proud of you, Panda. Whatever happens.” I rolled my eyes, eager to end the display that had attracted a lot of unwanted attention from my housemates.

“Yeah, yeah, OK. Thank you.” I mumbled. He laughed, ruffling my already knotted hair and headed over to his own table, pressing a kiss to his girlfriend who then proceeded to blush, her face almost becoming the exact colour of my recently oxygen – deprived skin.

#

Saturday night came around exceptionally fast that day and by the time the clock struck 6pm, the Common Room was full of students eagerly awaiting to hear the news. Our group had claimed our spot by the fireplace and there were a group of first years sat on the rug in front of the roaring fire, blankets draped over their shoulders and thick socks on their feet.

“You’ll get used to it eventually.” Mia said encouragingly to one, there had been a period of adjustment for us all last year – acclimatising to the atmosphere of the dungeons and those students were going through exactly the same thing.

“Hot Chocolate helps.” I added, gesturing with my own mug of brimming of the hot sweet drink. The student nodded and wrapped their blankets tighter around themselves.

Our attention was suddenly diverted to Bellamy as he clapped his hands from the top of the stairs that led down into the Common Room. The whole of Slytherin House turned their attention to him and it was then that we spotted Snape. He was stood silently in a corner with his arms crossed across his chest, but his face was less of disdain and more of, natural apathy. It was an encouraging sign that he was still choosing to show his support for his house.

“Now, I want to thank everyone that came out for try-outs this morning. But as I said on the pitch, there are not spaces for everyone. Saying that, I have made the decisions on who had made the cut.” I could feel myself almost shaking with anticipation and nerves for the impending announcement. I knew the Seeker would be announced first. The Seeker was the most important position, then the reserve seeker. Every name that would get announced would set my nerves more on edge than before.

“So,” Bellamy made sure he had everyone’s attention. “Slytherin’s new Seeker. Draco Malfoy.” The whole house erupted into cheers and claps as he jumped over the back of the sofa to retrieve his new emerald green robes. He shook Bellamy’s hand and smiled a genuine smile of happiness; it certainly was a rare sight but one that was nice to see. Snape applauded him also.

“Our reserve seeker, who will fill the role of the seeker should he be unable to do so, Lorcan Ramsey.” The fifth year looked unhappy to have been pipped at the post by a second year, but he was cheered on and shook Bellamy’s hand nonetheless, receiving his own robes with a number 14, identifying his reserve status.

“Well done.” I smiled to Draco as he arrived back at the sofa, cradling his robes proudly.

“Thanks.”

“Now, our reserve keeper. Ryker Zane.” The sixth year, who was clearly a friend of Bellamy did not seem concerned that he was reserve, he took his robes happily and even performed a dramatic bow to the audience, eliciting a laugh from us all. There were only two pairs of robes left in Bellamy’s arms and he was keeping the surnames well concealed from view.

“Our reserve chaser, Aidan Fenris.” I scanned the room and saw the unknown Slytherin from the morning, it turned out he was only a year above me. I hadn’t paid much attention to him on the pitch but apparently, he had done well enough and he was happy to receive his jersey with the number eleven on it. I suddenly felt nerves begin to swirl in the pit of my stomach and I had to put my hot chocolate down to stop me from dropping it.

“Finally, our Chaser. Nina Rosier.” Our group burst into applause louder than the whole house, Mia cheering louder than them all as the rest of the house followed suit. I practically ran over to Bellamy and retrieved my robes, shaking his hands firmly. Bellamy was so tall he had to bend over a little to mutter to me.

“The others never stood a chance. It was the best attacking play I’ve seen in years.”

“Thanks.” I grinned happily as the emerald fabric fell into my grip and I saw my surname curved over the number one. I had to fight the urge to squeal in excitement, instead eagerly running back to the arms of my friends.

“To all those who were successful, we will do formal introductions at our first practice – the date of which will be on the notice board by the morning. For tonight, congratulations and celebrate.”


	8. Wise Words from the Weasleys

Almost as soon as the team announcement had been made, I couldn’t wait to make it onto the Quidditch pitch for our first practice, but that was a whole week away and whilst I could pass most of the time, distracting myself with school work and subsequent homework – I still had to get through Sunday and the first thing I would have to do would be to tell Alec the good news. For some reason that felt like it was going to be more of a chore than it should. As I’d trudged into the Great Hall for breakfast, thoroughly exhausted from the night before, (celebrations has lasted a lot longer than I’d anticipated them to, Draco and I had been expected to keep up with the older years) I’d been swept into a hug and spun around by my brother. I’d blushed furiously and demanded to be put back on my feet and Alec had done so, laughing loudly the entire time. 

“I knew you could do it.” He grinned widely, as he pushed his glasses further up onto his nose and followed me over to the Slytherin table. I wanted to question how he already knew but Bellamy and my housemates were already seated so that question was answered for me, he hadn’t been able to wait until I’d come in, he’d found out from them instead. As we passed Bellamy, Alec dropped a hand onto his shoulder as if they were friends when I knew for a fact that they’d barely spoken before. Clearly Mia and I’s bond had forced some kind of friendship between the two of them.

“Told you she was great, didn’t I?” Bellamy nodded as he sipped a bitter smelling coffee as I stomped my foot indignantly. 

“You spoke to the captain before try-outs even started?” Alec’s smile faltered a little as he realised how angry I was. Bellamy suddenly took a keen interest in his porridge as he chopped a banana and laid them across the top in a perfect line.

“Panda, I…” 

“No! I don’t need you putting in good words for me! I am an amazing flyer and I don’t need anyone else trying to prove it for me, I’m quite capable of doing that myself!” Bellamy looked up from his breakfast again to Alec and the two of them exchanged looks before they both broke out into near identical grins. For a split second it felt like I had two brothers who were both about to mock me.

“I told you it would work;” Alec smiled triumphantly, “I’ve only been trying to get her to admit that for the past three months.” As the two of them grinned at me and I realised I’d fallen for Alec’s reverse psychology trick – I pouted. 

“I hate you.” I tuned on my heel and quickly headed for my group of friends who were all sat, cautiously watching my family’s large owl as he stood in the middle of the table, a thick wad of letters held tightly in his beak. I took a seat and poured a glass of orange juice as Bandit took a few steps towards me, apparently eager for me to relieve him of the undoubtedly heavy postal delivery he’d been instructed to bring to me.

“What on earth?” I questioned as I retrieved the wad of letters from my owl and gave him a treat from my pocket. He hooted gratefully, opened his large swings and took off, sending Draco’s cornflakes flying straight out of his bowl and over the table and the floor. He grumbled in irritation before snatching the box from Theo and pouring himself another and turning his back on us. Clearly, he wasn’t handling being over tired very well. 

“Someone’s popular.” Mia smiled as she sipped a cup of tea, it was a familiar floral scent of Chamomile and she had it every Sunday morning as part of her ‘self-care Sunday routine’. I flicked through the stack before turning to my brother who had taken a seat next to me.

“Alec…who did you tell?” He examined them innocently as he used my fork to stab a chocolate-chip pancake from a platter in the middle of the table. 

“Mum and Dad already knew you were trying out.” He shrugged as if I was asking an obvious question.

“Yes, that accounts for this one.” I said, holding up a duck-egg blue envelope with my mother’s neat little script on the front. The contents felt thick and I was almost sure there was a separate response from both my mother and father contained inside. I half hoped there was a gift of some form inside. I shuffled the remaining envelopes in my hands.

“What about the other six?” I questioned, before realisation dawned and I had to suppress the urge to roll my eyes.

“You didn’t.” But I already knew he had. Alec had told our entire family, which meant our grandparents, our aunt, uncle and cousins in France and our other aunt, uncle and cousin in America. 

“I didn’t. I may however, of told Mum that she should.” I could see the smirk tugging at his lips and he was so proud of himself. I was perfectly content with only our parents knowing I’d made the team, but Alec seemed to be determined that everyone in my vicinity knew about my achievement and I had never been able to work out why, he’d been the same when we were younger. When he’d seen my first display of random magic (I accidentally set an armchair on fire during a tantrum when I lost a game of hide and seek), Alec had raced to tell our parents before even thinking to put the flames out. 

“What is it?” Mia questioned, examining the post marks on each letter. 

“Ooh, this one’s from Ilvermony!” She mentioned, before I retrieved it back from her grip. “Who do you know in Ilvermony?”

“Yes, America, America, two from France and one from Ireland. Alec told the whole family.” I stated, unintentionally ignoring Mia’s question. Alec shook his head in his defence.

“No, not the whole family, I didn’t think our uncles in Azkaban would be overly concerned with your extra-curricular accomplishments.” I nodded my head in agreement, refusing to acknowledge the questioning looks I was receiving from some of my housemates. 

“Hmm, somehow I feel they’ve got more pressing issues on their minds.” I dropped the envelopes onto the table, my attention suddenly diverted by a bright pink envelope at the bottom of the stack. 

“Who’s that one from?” Alec questioned, I shrugged my shoulder as I cracked the messy wax steal and pulled the letter from the envelope. No sooner had I unfolded the letter, it had exploded a puff of bright green smoke into my face before a cloud of confetti flew into the air and drifted down onto the table followed shortly by a song of congratulations that filled the air of the Great Hall. Alec’s jaw was practically in his lap, my housemates were shocked, and Mia was laughing silently behind her hand but two voices behind me were laughing at full volume. I turned to Fred and George Weasley whose faces had gone so red, it almost matched the colour of their hair. I turned back to my table, removed the power from my hair with a flourish of my wand and got to my feet, taking my letters in my grip.

“Laugh now, Weasley’s, we’ll see whose laughing on the Quidditch Pitch.” The twins laughing stopped but neither of their grins faded as I headed back down to the Common Room, I wanted to read the letters from my family in peace. 

My dorm mates found me about an hour later as I folded up the last of the letters I’d been reading. Confirming my thoughts, one had been from my grandparents in Ireland, and my grandmother in particular had been less than impressed at me making the team. She may be a more liberal woman than my father’s mother by a country mile but that didn’t mean she believed I should be partaking in such a dangerous and barbaric game. I’d had to roll my eyes; she was very much a woman of tradition and as far as she was concerned, I should not be flying about in all manner of weather conditions playing a game that was known for causing life changing injuries. My cousins, however, were both considerably more supportive, along with both my aunts and uncles and I expected that happiness would be reiterated when they came to visit over the summer as they did every year. 

Mia and Sally dropped themselves onto either side of me as I quickly stacked the letters away. 

“So, who were the other letters from?” Mia questioned.

“Family.” I answered quietly. “Though I was sceptical about what would come out each envelope as I opened them.” I glanced at her as a small smile began to appear on her face.

“Oh, come on. It was funny!” She replied, and I knew in that moment the twins hadn’t manufactured their little joke on their own. 

“Oh yes, hilarious.” I retorted sarcastically. “And I’ve no doubt who gave tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber the idea.” Mia inhaled a dramatic gasp, placing a hand on her chest. 

“Language, missy! Also was that a quote from Alice in Wonderland…a muggle book no less?” I rolled my eyes at her dramatics that so often matched my own. 

“Yes, your copy. You loaned it to me over the summer.” 

“Oh yes I did, didn’t I? Well looks like my semi-muggle upbringing is having a positive impact on you.” 

“Oh?” 

“Expanding on your already admittedly impressive vocabulary, even if it is to offend the twins.” 

“Somehow I feel that they’ve been called much worse.” I thought, my mind wandering back to the altercation between Mr Weasley and Mr Malfoy in Diagon Alley. It was not secret how the Weasley family were perceived amongst the elite pure blood society, there were even books that openly slated them as being blood traitors and whilst I’d been raised to not take any heed in it myself, I’d been instructed to let other people believe what they wanted and not question it, at least not in public. Openly disagreeing with certain people’s ideals could create enemies in the wrong places and I’d learnt that my family seemed to walk the ever-thinning line between pure blood supremacists and muggle sympathisers, if often felt like there was no middle ground to be had and it was never entirely clear which life view provided the most safety and security. 

“Yes, I don’t doubt it either.” Mia agreed, clearly keen on changing the subject She jumped up from where she was sat as Millie and Pansy approached from our dorm, Pansy donning a bright pink jumper with matching cropped leggings. I looked at her with suspicion, Pansy didn’t exercise, to be honest, none of us did unless we were so bored, we could find little else to do. Even then we’d all put our exercise clothes on, talk about how we were going to run laps of the Quidditch pitch and then by the time we’d got there, we’d all just sit in the grass and make excuses as to why we couldn’t possibly bring ourselves to do it.

“Oh, come on, grouchy. We’re going to teach Pansy how to cartwheel on the lawn – coming?” 

“Sure.” I agreed, eager to see Pansy’s less than graceful limbs flailing about all afternoon. It was also that time of year where the summer was fading fast and I wanted to make the most of it before autumn truly set in and we were exposed to the gale force winds that so often graced the Scottish Highlands for weeks on end. 

#

The lawn was soaked in late September sun when we arrived and students were scattered around with the same idea as us, enjoying it as much as they could. Whilst Mia started showing Pansy how to complete the perfect cartwheel, Sally, Millie and I laid back in the short grass in the warm sun. The blades tickled the backs of my knees and the sun warmed my cheeks until – 

“Sleepy, Rosier?” I opened my eyes to see Fred and George standing over me – blocking the sun from view with the oh-so-familiar identical grins on their faces. I got to my feet with a huff, crossing my arms across my chest. 

“What do you two want now?” I questioned irritably. George reached forward, jabbing a spot on my temple.

“Looks like you’ve still got some green, right there.” He grinned widely, clearly still impressed with himself from their little show in the Great Hall. I swatted his hand away in annoyance. 

“I meant what I said. You’re both laughing now. We’ll see whose laughing in the end.” 

“Ok, Ok.” Fred chimed in. “But in all seriousness, we wanted to say congratulations for making the team.”

“I’m pretty sure you made that point with the card.” The twins both held up their hands in defence. 

“That wasn’t even our idea.” The both of them looked over to where Mia was taking sudden interest in Pansy’s repeated futile attempts at a cartwheel. 

“Yes, we’ve already had that discussion. I didn’t think the two of you had the shared brain capacity to put that together in less than twelve hours.” The two of them feigned hurt, clutching their chests in pain. 

“Your words hurt, Rosier.” George stated, wiping a fake tear from his freckled cheek. 

“I do try. Now, what do you want?” 

“Just a friendly, genuinely friendly, word of advice. We don’t need to tell you how rough Quidditch is…” Fred began. 

“That roughness often continues off the pitch too…” George continued. 

“And you’re saying that I should be careful because I’m a girl?” I questioned with an arched eyebrow. 

“No!” Fred quickly answered as if he was anticipating me to fly off the handle at him. 

“Then, what.?” 

“Well, Slytherin are known for being exceptionally dirty players…” 

“Both on the pitch and off of it.” George explained. 

“Wouldn’t want you to be tarnished with the same brush now, would we?” 

“Wouldn’t you?” I asked sceptically, as they approached me, each putting an arm around my shoulders. 

“Course not, you’re Ammy’s best friend, which means you’re our friend. Whether you like it or not.” 

#

The following five days between try-outs and our first practice session felt like the longest of my life. Classes seemed to drag, I’d even lost focus in a potions lesson which nearly resulted in Snape deducting points from his own house, much to the chagrin of my friends. The only thing of any notoriety that happened the whole week was on Friday morning when, during a Charms lesson, Ron Weasley’s wand shot out of his hand, hitting Professor Flitwick dead between the eyes and we’d all watched in horror as a giant green boil grew where the wand had struck him. 

It was only on Friday night, when Bellamy found Mia and I playing a game of chess to tell me practice was at sunrise the following day – that the reality sunk in. 

“Sunrise?” Mia questioned as if the idea itself was horrifying, let alone getting up that early to fly about in cold morning weather.

“We’ve got to get in before the other teams. Snape has signed a letter using the excuse we need to train Malfoy to permit us special access.”

“And me?” I questioned as I used Mia’s distracted attention to take another of her chess pieces. 

“What’s that?” Bellamy asked. 

“You need to train me too?” Bellamy smiled and dropped his voice to a volume only Mia and I could hear. 

“Give it three weeks, Nina. You’re going to be training them.” He ruffled Mia’s hair, in a fashion similar to how Alec was with me, before sauntering off to sit with his friends. 

“Come on, then.” Mia smiled. “Early night for us.” I grumbled in protest as we got ready for bed, taking the chess board into our room and placing it in between our two beds. We both changed into pyjamas and eventually climbed under our covers. We both leaned over the edges of our beds, our voices commanding the pieces across the chess board on the floor. Jinx and Iris watched from a distance, their tales flicking as if the pieces were prey, they could pounce on.

“How are you feeling about tomorrow?” Mia questioned as she took one of my Bishops, it joined her growing pile of claimed pieces at the side of the board. I shrugged from under my grey fur blanket. 

“Ok, I guess…” 

“But you feel like try-outs were a fluke and you’ll be terrible tomorrow, and everyone will laugh.” I smirked at her nervously. Honestly sometimes it was like she was actually inside my head. 

“You took the words right out of my mouth.” Mia shrugged casually. 

“It’s a gift. Now get some sleep – you need to be rested for tomorrow.” 

“Yes, Mum.” I replied sarcastically as we switched off the oil lamp on our bedside tables and drew the curtains around our beds. I turned to face the large window, falling into a dreamless sleep.


	9. Revenge

For some reason, despite Bellamy warning me that our practice would begin at sunrise, I didn’t think he actually meant the moment the sun broke over the horizon. But I’d been awoken by him banging on the door to our dorm room when my clock read 6am – shouting that everyone else was already up and waiting. I’d scrambled to get dressed as quickly as I could whilst apologising to my dorm mates who’d been woken by the noise. I apologised a final time as I slipped out of the door and into the common room where the boys were all waiting for me. 

“Nice of you to join us, Nina.” Bellamy smiled and I apologised profusely again but he held up a hand to stop me. 

“I’m kidding, don’t worry. Sleeping beauty here slept through his first practice. I looked to the boy Bellamy was gesturing to a felt a blush crawl across my cheeks as Alfie Harrington siled and reached out his hand to shake mine. He was a year above me, but somewhat of a celebrity in our house and across the whole school and it was not only for his impressive Quidditch skills. Alfie was incredibly popular with the girls of Hogwarts, me and Mia included. He excelled in his studies and was often seen tutoring our house mates in the evenings. He was also incredibly good looking and Mia and I were both in agreement that of all the boys we’d known in our lives (most of whom were family members anyway) Alfie was certainly the most handsome. He had a kind smile and curled brown hair that fell into his eyes when he was reading, and I’d been unable to ignore the fact that he’d read a lot of the same books as me. Mia and I had resigned ourselves to the fact that neither of us would ever appear on Alfie’s radar but that hadn’t prevented us from insisting that we needed his help with our studies, not that either of us retained any of the information he told us. 

“Right, well we should probably do formal introductions before we get out there.” Bellamy stated as we all sat in the chairs and sofa opposite the fireplace. It was so early it hadn’t been relit from the night before, so it was just a pile of glowing hot embers. I sat in the armchair with my broom leant against the side as I fingered the emerald green fabric of my robes.

“So, the official team roster for this year reads as follows; keeper is of course, yours truly Bellamy Cavett. Your three chasers are of course, Marcus Flint, Alfie Harrington and Nina Rosier. Beaters; Cassius Warrington and Peregrine Derrick.” I looked to the two unfamiliar boys sat across from me, Cassius was very large, not in fat but more in bulk. Thick eyebrows framed sage green eyes and his equally thick black hair was swept back in carefully moulded waves. Peregrine was slightly smaller in stature, dirty blonde hair that was compacted in tight curls. His eyes were such a dark brown they were almost black. 

“And last but certainly not least, our seeker Draco Malfoy.” Bellamy took the roster and pinned it to the notice board, and I grinned, matching the portrait on the sheet of parchment.   
“Now, just one more thing before we get out on the pitch.” Bellamy gestured to Draco who had been silent so far, all morning. He suddenly got to his feet and gestured to seven large, black boxes with silver ribbons. 

“A gift.” He said simply as everyone got to their feet to inspect them. “From my father.” I hung back as the first Nimbus 2001 was pulled from its box. Everyone was patting Draco on the back as Bellamy came to stand beside me. 

“Not impressed?” he questioned, I answered with a simple shrug as I clutched the handle of my own broom tightly. 

“It’s the latest broom on the market.” I muttered. 

“Outstrips anything else by a country mile.” Bellamy agreed. 

“For speed.” I added and Bellamy nodded in agreement before turning to me. 

“You know, this really famous Quidditch player, Joscelind Wadcock said that you shouldn’t measure an athlete by their equipment but by their passion.” I nodded in agreement, I was familiar with both Joscelind and the quote Bellamy was referring to. 

“That if you are passionate enough and have enough faith in your strength and your opponent’s weaknesses, a broom is simply a tool. It does not define your ability as a player.” Bellamy patted me on the shoulder as he pulled a broom from its box, a nice gesture more than anything else, I suspected. 

We all began the long walk from our common room down to the quidditch pitch. The early morning air was cold, and I found myself wishing I’d brought my cloak with me for warmth. 

“You didn’t take a broom.” It wasn’t a question but a statement as Draco fell into step beside me at the rear of the group. 

“No. It’s nothing personal but Mum and Dad got mine for me specially. It wouldn’t really be fair to not play in it.” He simply shrugged in response as though my reason made little sense but we both knew I wasn’t going to change my mind. 

As we approached the Quidditch pitch, my excitement began to build but it quickly dissipated again when I spotted a group of scarlet – clad Gryffindors heading straight for us. 

“Cavett.” The Gryffindor captain, Oliver Wood, called. 

“Wood.” Bellamy replied simply, clearly having anticipated a confrontation of some kind. 

“This is our practice time, we got up specially. You can leave now.” Bellamy held up a hand before pulling a small scroll from inside his robes. 

“Steady on. I’ve got a note.” Oliver Wood snatched it from Bellamy’s hand and read it aloud; 

“I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch pitch, owing to the need to train their new Seeker.” Wood looked up from the note and glared at Bellamy. 

“You’ve got a knew seeker? Who?” Our teammates parted like an emerald sea and Draco sauntered to the front. 

“Malfoy?” Harry Potter questioned as though the idea of him as a seeker was a ridiculous one. 

“That’s right.” Draco confirmed as he flicked his broom handle from one shoulder to the other. “That’s not all that new this year.” I watched as the Gryffindors jaws dropped at they took in all six sleek brooms my teammates displayed. 

“Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones!” One of the Gryffindor chasers exclaimed. “How did you get those?” She questioned. 

“A gift…from Draco’s father.” Bellamy stated and he was smug, of course he was – I’d met three out of four of our schools Quidditch Captains and winning the inter-house cup was one of the most important things that occupied their minds. If Draco’s father’s ‘contribution’ to the team helped us win then Bellamy would take it, and if I were in his shoes, I would have too. 

“Uh oh, pitch invasion.” Alfie suddenly commented and we all looked to see Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger marching across the damp grass to apparently see why we were all stood around and not actually doing any practicing. 

“What’s going on?” Ron questioned. “Have you finished already? What’s he doing here?” Ron was looking Draco up and down, visibly disgusted to see him wearing the Slytherin Quidditch robes. 

“I’m the new team Seeker, Weasley.” Draco sneered. As I watched the altercation unfold, I caught the eyes of Fred and George Weasley who were gesturing to the fact I was still carrying my own broom. They both nodded in silent approval as if to say they were impressed that I hadn’t been drawn in by Draco’s less than subtle tactics to impress our team. 

“Everyone had just been admiring the broom’s my father brought for the team.” I could see the clear jealousy on Ron’s face as he admired the polished black handles and delicate gold lettering. 

“Good, aren’t they?” Draco continued, clearly enjoying seeing Ron so openly envious. “The Gryffindor’s could raise some money and get some brooms too. I expect a museum would bid for those Cleansweep Five’s.” A few of our team members and a number of onlookers who normally watched the practices laughed loudly from the stands. 

“At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in.” Hermione chimed in. “They got in on pure talent.” I hoped she was only talking about Draco with that remark. Not that she would have been entirely right even if she was. Draco was a good flyer, there was no denying that. But the ‘gifts’ had undermined him and made him look like less of a player than he actually was. But whether or not she was right, Draco certainly did not appreciate Hermione’s input on the matter. His expression had flickered before his mouth contorted into a cruel sneer. 

“No one asked for your opinion, you filthy little mudblood.” 

The subsequent events happened in a very fast blur. I saw Bellamy shove Draco back and step into his place as Fred and George threw themselves at him. One of the Gryffindor chasers shrieked in shock and I saw as Ron’s hand plunged into his pocket and pulled his sellotaped wand out, trying to find Draco in the middle of our teammates. 

“You’ll pay for that one, Malfoy!” he shouted as he shoved his way in, pointing it dead in the centre of Draco’s face. I stepped back as a large bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light erupted from the wrong end of his wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him flying backwards with considerable force. Harry and Hermione rushed over to him as a sickening green tinge appeared on his skin. We’d all been silenced by the event until Ron rolled over onto his front and vomited a giant green slug onto the grass. 

My teammates descended into full blown laughter and whilst I too had found Ron’s wand backfiring funnier than I probably should have, my humour had quickly vanished by the time the second slug hit the ground and began to slowly slither away. He had been hurried away by Harry and Hermione who were then quickly followed by the small blonde Gryffindor with the large camera. 

With their Seeker gone, the Gryffindors surrendered the argument and left the pitch. Bellamy turned to us, though it looked as though he was already exhausted for the day. 

“Come on, then. Everyone get into your positions.”

*

I was glad when practice was finally over. Bellamy had pushed us all to our limits and I think it was partly because of Draco’s little display earlier. I’d had to find where I fit in between the other two chasers and they’d had to adapt their style of play to accommodate me, all in all it had been highly exhausting. When Bellamy finally called it a day, I was verging on ravenous and practically ran to the Great Hall only to see the breakfast banquet was already gone and lunch wouldn’t be served for another hour. To kill time, I headed down into the dungeons and had a shower before changing into some much comfier clothes. My dorm was empty, so I figured the girls would be out on the lawn or in the common room. 

As I made my way into the main hall I was suddenly waylaid by both Mia and the twins who had serious and yet mischievous looks upon their faces. 

“I hear there was drama at practice this morning.” Mia commented as we slowly made our way to the great hall to wait for lunch. 

“Hmm, yes you could say that.” I agreed quietly. Fred and George sat opposite the two of us as I stared at the empty plate in front of me, willing food to appear to satisfy my increasingly large appetite. 

“They told me everything.” Mia confirmed and I nodded silently. 

“Well, it certainly wasn’t pretty. Ron vomiting slugs everywhere, actually kind of made me glad I didn’t have any breakfast this morning.” 

“What?” Mia questioned, shaking her head. “No, we’re talking about Draco calling Hermione,” she dropped her voice. 

“a mudblood.” 

“Oh yeah. I figured that.” I stated quietly. 

“I mean – who does he think he is?!” Fred hissed angrily. 

“Disgusting behaviour. I mean, I never liked him anyway, but I thought he was at least more civilised than that.” George agreed. 

“Even I’m shocked.” Mia declared. “And Nina and I know him better than most.” 

“Maybe not. Even I didn’t think he’d openly use that word.” I muttered. 

“Well either way, he has to pay for it.” Fred said. 

“That sounded rather hostile.” I said with an arched eyebrow. 

“Well, he deserves it.” George agreed with his brother. 

“I’m sorry.” I interjected. “What exactly is happening here? It sounds like you’re plotting revenge?” 

“No. Not revenge,” George disagreed. “We’re not looking to end up in Azkaban anytime soon.” 

“But some mild payback in the form of a prank…” Fred suggested. 

“No.” I shook my head. “Can’t do it. Won’t do it. I promised my Dad I wouldn’t get in trouble this year.” I stated. 

“We can guarantee you won’t get caught.” George offered but I shook my head. 

“No. If you guys want to, you can and I fully support you and you know I’m more than happy to conspire with you all day but as far as actually doing it, you’re on your own. I will not commit to physical involvement in the pranking. Not this time.”

“Well, that sounded rehearsed.” Mia smirked. 

“It is. But I will keep repeating it. I am not changing my mind.” Mia shrugged and turned her attention to the two boys as food finally appeared on the table between us. 

“Ok, so Nina’s out for actual commitment. I’m in – all the way.” She grinned. I shook my head again as I reached for the sandwiches between me and George and bit into it hungrily. 

“You’re going to get caught.”


End file.
